Stopped by DOT

tcartwri · Jan 27, 2011

HarryVanderpool said:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

So based on the information available on that site, what should the OP do to secure his tractor on an open flat bed trailer, with no headboard.

Soundguy · Jan 27, 2011

don't be silly.. that's coverd in sub paragraph 47B section 512, chapter 29, but you have to have the new codex with adenda version 3.4208B or higher for all referenced materials and once you read that, it is nowithstanding any provisions of section 9 out of the 'red book' paragraph 14, sub section A, note 3, but keep in mind in the end it's all open to interpretation by the observing officer as stated in appendix C out of the 'Blue book' paragraph 37, sub section 9. Mind you the blue book is currently out of print and has not been updated to the current addenda level needed for this type of querry.

cripes.. reading that stuff is worse than sausage being made.. rats cockroaches dust and all included into the mix ( under acceptable levels of such ! )

soundguy

Treemonkey1000 · Jan 27, 2011

Soundguy said:
don't be silly.. that's coverd in sub paragraph 47B section 512, chapter 29, but you have to have the new codex with adenda version 3.4208B or higher for all referenced materials and once you read that, it is nowithstanding any provisions of section 9 out of the 'red book' paragraph 14, sub section A, note 3, but keep in mind in the end it's all open to interpretation by the observing officer as stated in appendix C out of the 'Blue book' paragraph 37, sub section 9. Mind you the blue book is currently out of print and has not been updated to the current addenda level needed for this type of querry.

cripes.. reading that stuff is worse than sausage being made.. rats cockroaches dust and all included into the mix ( under acceptable levels of such ! )

soundguy

Ok Soundguy now you are making me lose my appetite for reading and sausage! What next are you going to pick on my Pizza? :licking:

Soundguy · Jan 27, 2011

hey now.. i LIKE pizza!

soundguy

tcartwri · Jan 27, 2011

Well instead of dinking the poor guy around, here is the answer;

First of all I would ditch the straps. They are rated for 10,000 lbs, but I am willing to bet that is not indicated anywhere on the strap itself. That disqualifies it immeadiatley in the eyes of the truck police. Plus a length of chain is really usefull on a day to day basis.

I am assuming the tractor with all of it's gear bolted to it weighs less than 5000lbs.

Because it is under 10000 lbs, you can use the same regs as specified for transporting a car or light truck. However, it is much easier to go by the rules for heavy equipment, as follows.

#1: you must have a minimum of 4 tie down points to the deck of the trailer.

#2: Take the weight of the tractor and divide by 2.

#3: Take the Working load rating of each of your tie downs, and divide by 2. ( that is not the ultimate breaking point, which is what those nylon straps are usually rated at. )

#4 Sum all of the tie downs in item #3. This number must be equal to or greater than item #2. If not, add more tie downs until it is.

So I would use two lengths of 5/16" G70 chain, run through the frame of the tractor in such a manner that it cannot be pulled through, with two lever binders rated at the same strength as the chain.

All tie downs must have an angle on the load, so that the machine cannot move forwards or backwards, or from side to side. Imagine drawing an X through the tractor from above.

Any binder or chain not marked with a rating is automatically disqualified by the DOT officer.

MF 1532 · Jan 27, 2011

The state of Illinois , ( I'm sure you have heard of us we're one of the states that are broke ) has been cracking down on truck and trailers . Things they are watching for ; too light of license plate , D.O.T. numbers anyone hauling for hire (this includes farmers hauling their own grain to market ) , burning off road fuel , log book violations , etc... The responsibility of a unsafe vehicle is now not just the owners problem , but the driver too , a violation stays with his record also . I operate up to date safe equipment and would like to think the truck I just met is safe too . My biggest complaint is , it's a law to have liability insurance , but I still have to carry uninsured motorist coverage:confused2:Insuring all my stuff is enough , but to have to cover myself against the uninsured / underinsured

WTA · Jan 27, 2011

Texas is real funny. Because I have farm tags my one ton is registered for 38,000 pounds. I can "legally" weigh that much gross. I don't even want to get into what would happen if an accident were my fault.

Also because of the farm tags, I get stopped by every single state trooper, barney Fife small town cop and city cop that sees me because of the 100 gallon farm tank in the bed. I love it. It's got a clear filter housing on the pump and they still insist on dipping my tank. It's kinda irritating. I never buy red diesel because of past bad experience with the quality around here.

Also, thanks to the farm tags, and the fact that I have a class A, I run the posted truck speed limits. Don't ask me why but a state trooper told me once if you're registered for big truck weight, carrying a big truck license then you better go the big truck speed. It's typically 5-10 mph under the regular speed limit. That's ok though. I like saving all the fuel I can.

FTG-05 · Jan 27, 2011

tcartwri said:
So based on the information available on that site, what should the OP do to secure his tractor on an open flat bed trailer, with no headboard.

Easy, for tractors, it's Chapter 10.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/cargo/cargosecurement-16-04.pdf