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Dodging the Scales, High Tech
allen griggs
Member Posts: 35,254 ✭✭✭✭
I made this run to Albuquerque five weeks ago. Fifteen miles inside the New Mexico state line, there is a scale. No big deal.
I pulled in and got weighed, the gal held up a sign that said PULL OVER AND PARK COME INSIDE.
I thought, "What in the world?"
I went inside, waited in line 10 minutes, had to hand her all my paperwork, insurance card, Bill of Lading etc.
Stuff like this makes me very nervous I don't like it. I was perfectly legal but just don't like being hassled like this.
In five minutes she said I had to have the New Mexico weight and distance permit. $64.
Good Lord, What in the World?
I have driven through 20 states in the big rig, including New Jersey and California, never had to deal with this BS.
She said I could call dispatch and they would send down a check to pay. Called dispatch, waited on hold for 5 minutes.
I said "Screw it" and I paid the cost on my Discover card. Was at that scale for a half hour and I didn't like it.
So, today, I figured my dispatch, knowing I am making this run routinely now, would have gotten me this permit.
No, got an email this morning that told me to go to that same scale and get the paperwork etc, then call dispatch and they would send down the check. What bs.
I know, in all the country songs, they talk about dodging the scales.
Including the Dave Dudley classic Six Days on the Road.
"I don't see a cop in sight
I can dodge all the scales all right
Six days on the road, and I'm a-gonna make it home tonight..."
Good enough for Dave Dudley, good enough for me. In the spirit of running Thunder Road, I decided to try to dodge the scale.
As I got near the scale, I zoomed in on my $450 Rand McNally truck driver GPS.
I saw that there was a side road, Quay Road, that paralleled the Interstate. It went near the scale but did not enter the scale.
And, there was an exit 4 miles before the scale where I could get on to Quay Road, and 3 miles past the scale an entrance ramp where I could get back on I 40.
So I took that exit ramp before the scale and parked. I got out my laptop and looked it up on Google maps. There was a great satellite photo that confirmed that you could run the scale on Quay Road.
I figured it couldn't be so easy, but then, I figured most drivers wouldn't have the brains to figure it out, or have the nerve to try it. I decided I was the man for the job.
I got a good look at that damn scale about 100 feet away and waved bye bye as I went past.
I got to the end of Quay Road, all I had to do was take a left and I was back on the entrance ramp to I 40.
But, right there was a truck stop. This was not on my GPS because it had been abandoned ten years ago.
But, some guy from India had come over and reopened it last year, there was a big sign, INDIAN BUFFET.
Yowsuh! Indian is my favorite cuisine! I pulled in and got dinner and it was good. If I hadn't been on Quay Road I never would have seen it because I would have been on I 40.
I pulled in and got weighed, the gal held up a sign that said PULL OVER AND PARK COME INSIDE.
I thought, "What in the world?"
I went inside, waited in line 10 minutes, had to hand her all my paperwork, insurance card, Bill of Lading etc.
Stuff like this makes me very nervous I don't like it. I was perfectly legal but just don't like being hassled like this.
In five minutes she said I had to have the New Mexico weight and distance permit. $64.
Good Lord, What in the World?
I have driven through 20 states in the big rig, including New Jersey and California, never had to deal with this BS.
She said I could call dispatch and they would send down a check to pay. Called dispatch, waited on hold for 5 minutes.
I said "Screw it" and I paid the cost on my Discover card. Was at that scale for a half hour and I didn't like it.
So, today, I figured my dispatch, knowing I am making this run routinely now, would have gotten me this permit.
No, got an email this morning that told me to go to that same scale and get the paperwork etc, then call dispatch and they would send down the check. What bs.
I know, in all the country songs, they talk about dodging the scales.
Including the Dave Dudley classic Six Days on the Road.
"I don't see a cop in sight
I can dodge all the scales all right
Six days on the road, and I'm a-gonna make it home tonight..."
Good enough for Dave Dudley, good enough for me. In the spirit of running Thunder Road, I decided to try to dodge the scale.
As I got near the scale, I zoomed in on my $450 Rand McNally truck driver GPS.
I saw that there was a side road, Quay Road, that paralleled the Interstate. It went near the scale but did not enter the scale.
And, there was an exit 4 miles before the scale where I could get on to Quay Road, and 3 miles past the scale an entrance ramp where I could get back on I 40.
So I took that exit ramp before the scale and parked. I got out my laptop and looked it up on Google maps. There was a great satellite photo that confirmed that you could run the scale on Quay Road.
I figured it couldn't be so easy, but then, I figured most drivers wouldn't have the brains to figure it out, or have the nerve to try it. I decided I was the man for the job.
I got a good look at that damn scale about 100 feet away and waved bye bye as I went past.
I got to the end of Quay Road, all I had to do was take a left and I was back on the entrance ramp to I 40.
But, right there was a truck stop. This was not on my GPS because it had been abandoned ten years ago.
But, some guy from India had come over and reopened it last year, there was a big sign, INDIAN BUFFET.
Yowsuh! Indian is my favorite cuisine! I pulled in and got dinner and it was good. If I hadn't been on Quay Road I never would have seen it because I would have been on I 40.
Comments
& Indian food at a truck stop- what could go wrong?[:D]
I know an independent(and possibly slightly shady) trucker. His brain may have been a bit addled by "recreational substance use" but he knew every scale skirting bypass in the US.
1988 IIRC-different world then.
Same here. Hwy 89 goes right around the I-15 scales at Willard Utah. Except that the Hwy Patrol quite often stops trucks on Hwy 89, and you had better have a delivery stop along it, or else.
I always like the "or else" threat. Had it twice on me with a pickup and trailer dodging scales on I-29 around Salix. K-45 runs damn near right along side 29. There were even signs up saying the road was closed to trucks, lol. No, it was all a bluff to try to keep guys from dodging the scales, like I do every time I can.
Brad Steele
"I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonoopah..."
I went through Tucumcari yesterday and I was singing that song.
Lowell George. I love that song
Yes many of the old country songs talked about dodging the scales.
Well played sir.
& Indian food at a truck stop- what could go wrong?[:D]
Six days on the THRONE and I'm gonna make it home tonight...maybe. [:D][:D][:D]
I got there at 3:30, I figured the food had been put out at 11 and been sitting there festering for 4 hours.
Also I couldn't imagine any customers there, because most Americans hate Indian food.
Well I went inside and was astonished to see a dozen Indian, or Bangladesh, whatever, guys lined up loading up on the buffet.
The wife of the owner was in the back, cooking up the curry and putting it in the serving trays.
The owner was at the cash register and I asked him where all the Indian guys came from, was there an Indian colony there in Tucumcari or what?
He said all the guys were truck drivers.
But that food was fresh and really good, not too hot.
There are 4 states in which you must have extra permits on top of IFTA,
1. New York, must have HUT permit and sticker
2. KY, must have KYU number
3. OR, must have fuel permit
4. NM, must have WD permit
Dodging scales due to weight or other issues and not wanting inspected is one thing, dodging taxes is another story.
Make your decisions wisely.
Even this outlaw who has broken just about every rule there is keeps up with tax law, that is not a game I wish to play.
This is one of the main reasons they made E-Logs mandatory, and another reason I can't retire soon enough.
Will be interesting to see if I catch any flak from my little trick a few days ago. Y'all say it is quarterly so I ought to hear something in a few days, if I am to hear anything.
"I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Stayed on the back roads, so I wouldn't get weighed....."
Well, it sure sounds good in a country song. But that was back in 1974, before the computer age.
Two ways, one by other scanners that aren't even close to the scale( I just learned of this), and two, from your E-Log GPS tracking. Your E-Log is also a Federal document, and can be used to show you have been skirting the scales. You can be fined for each incident, and it's not parking ticket pocket change either.
This is one of the main reasons they made E-Logs mandatory, and another reason I can't retire soon enough.
Being too young is a * ain't it Trap![:p] At least you can buy beer and guns.
quote:Originally posted by TRAP55
Two ways, one by other scanners that aren't even close to the scale( I just learned of this), and two, from your E-Log GPS tracking. Your E-Log is also a Federal document, and can be used to show you have been skirting the scales. You can be fined for each incident, and it's not parking ticket pocket change either.
This is one of the main reasons they made E-Logs mandatory, and another reason I can't retire soon enough.
Being too young is a * ain't it Trap![:p] At least you can buy beer and guns.
I'm too young to be this old![:)]
In this commie state, I can buy dope with a phone ap, but need special permits to buy ammo. I'm waiting for them to require a NICS check to buy beer.[V]