Interesting Talk With A Friend ( DOT Officer)

I had a real interesting talk with a friend of mine yesterday, it was the first time I've seen him since deciding to start driving. He has been a DOT officer for about 12 years now and is a wealth of information. He's the type of officer with no chip on his shoulder and not trying to make your life miserable. In fact, will do everything to do a verbal or written warning instead of a ticket.

I was able to ask him quite a few questions from his perspective we even joked if I get bonuses for safety inspections let him know when I'm driving through to pull me over. One thing he did mention that some companies are really bad about repairing issues on their trucks sometimes suggesting that their drivers look the other way on certain things during pre inspections. Most DOT officers know those companies very well and hate the fact drivers CSA scores are effected by the way these companies run their trucks. One thing he suggests if you fill a report out on qualcom everyday , is that you back it up with a correct paper inspection report. That way if you do get pulled over and you get a good DOT officer they may just put the issues on the companies CSA report without effecting the drivers. He says officers have the discretion to do this as long as the driver can back it up.

Also Florida officers cannot reduce or give warnings for vehicles going 20 mph or over the speed limit. So if your stopped going this fast it's too late, they are audited on their stops so they cannot change the ticket. Even if it's a friend LOL

If a driver is going 20 mph over the speed limit at ANY time, that person doesn't belong in a truck. Period.

If a driver is going 20 mph over the speed limit at ANY time, that person doesn't belong in a truck. Period.

God, so much this. Especially someplace like Florida where the speed limit is 75. If you're doing 95 in a semi, you're just looking to kill someone.