CDL

[BMAC]

Well I dont have time to sit and study anything these days. So I have to take the word of those who will issue me a ticket that I have to either pay or waste more time in front of a judge trying to plea my case 10 hours from home. The officer I spoke with might be dead wrong but if he issues me a ticket and says hey if you jump up and down on the white line 10 times to avoid this ticket I think I will jump 10 times.

So I do carry log bood with my truck that has a DOT number on it. Now that isnt to say I dont fudge the numbers on it. Of course I fudge the numbers on it I drive just as long as I want and then I pull off and sleep. I still mostly drive around weigh stations, but certains ones that generally dont pull you in I drive thru.

[FarmerJ]

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...aspx?reg=383.3

(d) Exception for farmers, firefighters, emergency response vehicle drivers, and drivers removing snow and ice. A State may, at its discretion, exempt individuals identified in paragraphs (d)(1), (d)(2), and (d)(3) of this section from the requirements of this part. The use of this waiver is limited to the driver's home State unless there is a reciprocity agreement with adjoining States.
(1) Operators of a farm vehicle which is:
(i) Controlled and operated by a farmer, including operation by employees or family members;
(ii) Used to transport either agricultural products, farm machinery, farm supplies, or both to or from a farm;
(iii) Not used in the operations of a common or contract motor carrier; and
(iv) Used within 241 kilometers (150 miles) of the farmer's farm.
(2) Firefighters and other persons who operate CMVs which are necessary to the preservation of life or property or the execution of emergency governmental functions, are equipped with audible and visual signals and are not subject to normal traffic regulation. These vehicles include fire trucks, hook and ladder trucks, foam or water transport trucks, police SWAT team vehicles, ambulances, or other vehicles that are used in response to emergencies.
(3)(i) A driver, employed by an eligible unit of local government, operating a commercial motor vehicle within the boundaries of that unit for the purpose of removing snow or ice from a roadway by plowing, sanding, or salting, if
(A) The properly licensed employee who ordinarily operates a commercial motor vehicle for these purposes is unable to operate the vehicle; or
(B) The employing governmental entity determines that a snow or ice emergency exists that requires additional assistance.
(ii) This exemption shall not preempt State laws and regulations concerning the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles.

And since Apiary is considered Agriculture.....

But wait, there comes that pesky 150 Mile rule again, along with home state or adjoining states with reciprocity.


And I would be very leary of telling anyone that "maintenance" records are not required or need to be signed.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...spx?reg=396.13

§ 396.13Driver inspection.
Before driving a motor vehicle, the driver shall:
(a) Be satisfied that the motor vehicle is in safe operating condition;
(b) Review the last driver vehicle inspection report; and
(c) Sign the report, only if defects or deficiencies were noted by the driver who prepared the report, to acknowledge that the driver has reviewed it and that there is a certification that the required repairs have been performed. The signature requirement does not apply to listed defects on a towed unit which is no longer part of the vehicle combination.

And before you go yacking any more about whether or not you fill out a comic book, logbook or whatever you want to call the Hours of Service record.

ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN AND WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU IN A COURT OF LAW.

So before making that bold statement that you falsify your logbooks, whether they are required or not, given an opportunity of discovery by an attorney, investigator or insurance company, think about what you are putting up on the internet.

And just remember, just because you go back and delete the comment now, because it's been up for more than a couple hours, there is a back up on someones mainframe server somewhere.
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
http://replay.waybackmachine.org/200...beesource.com/


So in the mean time, we return you to your regular scheduled program. Enjoy the veal, I'll be here all week.

[FarmerJ]

It's not the mundane daily tickets that would come back to haunt you.

You are in your bee rig hauling down the local state highway, school bus pulls out in front of you and you t-bone it with 40 kids on board. Killing a couple, injurying the rest.


Yeah, it's a long shot, but there is going to be hell to pay and people are going to be looking to fry someone.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

Everyone talks about how we have to teach our KIDS how to behave on the internet, it begins with ourselves.

[goldenmeadowhoney]

There have been numerous posts on this topic. You guys will sooner or later get stopped by state dot officers and learn the hard way. Last year i paid over $1000 in fines for driving violations and have just received a letter from fmcsa warning me that I am at risk of "driver fatigue" I have been stopped twice my employee once. Next time we will be put out of service! and will probably pay a fine.
We drive a ford f550 and a dodge 5500 both with trailers and are on farm plates we hold ifta decals and the license.

we have log books and the times we have been stopped the hours where not current and the officer noted them in our warning citation that gets tracked thru our dot #

for the guys in NY that travel down to SC, Mark B as I recall you have a ford 450 (gvw 14,500lbs) you need dot # and when out of state a logbook with hours of duty filled in.

We carry ifta because the gross combined truck/trailer is over 26,000lbs yes we technically need a cdl license but we have never been asked for it. the ifta is so we do not get a $ 750.00 fine in NC in case we get pulled over.

Andy Reseska

[jim lyon]

I think this thread spells out pretty clearly that not only is there a lot of confusion about what is required but very little uniformity in enforcement not just from state to state but even within states depending on the whim of the officer that you might cross paths with. My single biggest gripe is how large motor homes and pickup 5th wheel combos weighing as much or more as the below 26000 rigs we are largely discussing here are for the most part exempted from all these requirements. Are these vehicles really less of a threat to public safety?

[gregstahlman]

couln't have stated that any better Jim. got 60-70 year old men driving motor homes that aren't use to driving big vehicles

[Allen Martens]

I'm reading through this thread and wondering if I'm in danger of getting a fine when I pick stuff up the US. In Manitoba, farm registration frees you of a lot of the requirements other trucks need.

I periodically pick up stuff in the US with a 2500 GMC or F350 using either a trailer with a gvw of 10000 lbs or one of 12000 obs. Am I needing log books, dot, etc for these setups?

[BMAC]

Great input Andy. I thought IFTA was only for vehicles over 33K vice 26k. What a PITA dealing with IFTA. Its good to hear folks running a little over 26K without CDL or incident for it. I try to keep loads under 26K as I do not hold a CDL. Not that it bothers me to get it, I just dont have it.