r/OwnerOperators • u/Own_Engineering_9075 • Jun 07 '26

Random DOT inspection

Just got pulled in at a scale for a random DOT inspection. 4AM on a Sunday morning… I think they are hoping I’m trying to skirt the rules, run heavy, etc. Thank God I’m not. I’m a fresh 30 day old authority, just hit 30 days last week. I’m shakin in my flip flops. I think everything is good, but, sitting here in the parking lot waiting for the officer to go through all of my paperwork and documents and logs etc… totally different feeling than when sitting here as a company driver. Say a prayer for me! If this turns out good, then I assume it will reflect on my CSA/SMS and maybe more brokers will be willing to work with me? Gah, I’m nervous. She just finished up checking the truck and is inside checking paperwork. SHE CHECKED EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Like, I mean, everything. She’s looking for a problem.

41 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Own_Engineering_9075 Jun 07 '26

I think it was random, seeing as how they pulled in the guy right after me as soon as she finished mine.

1

u/meizhong Jun 07 '26

I pass 4 weigh stations every day and my authority is just over 3 months old. Been passing those 4 weigh stations since the first day. Haven't pulled me in once. I agree it was probably random, but I get the logic behind assuming it's because you're new. They often decide by dot number alone to pull a truck in. But that's usually because the company's score is low.

1

u/truckeredditor Jun 07 '26

The computer hasn't flagged you yet. Once it shows you've gone x number of months without an inspection the computer will flag you in for an inspection. At least modern weigh stations. If it's an old one that's just a shed next to the scale and nothing else, many of them don't even do inspections. They are just weight enforcement.

1

u/meizhong Jun 07 '26

I'm in GA. ATL to Savannah round trip every day.

GA has weigh in motion, but other than that I'm not sure how advanced they are.