It's the DOT's annual driver appreciation week apparently. I've been called into every scale, and in every one of them they've been crawling all over trucks. It must be National Safety Week or something, which roughly translates into National Fuck With Truck Drivers week. They do this every year. They sit on their asses during the holidays, and then make up for it by being hyper-vigilant afterwards. Because we all know that they terrorists would never attack on a holiday, right?

It's public relations. That's all the hell it ever is. If the DOT cracked down and started writing citations, 70% of the trucks on the road would be put out of service. The DOT knows that their regulations are unrealistic, and so it becomes luck of the draw. I once had a brand new truck with only 5,000 miles on it get flagged because the officer thought the slack adjusters were out of alignment. Come to find out the officer didn't know what the hell he was doing, and was telling me to apply my brakes when he wanted me to release my brakes. Hehe.

Well, enough of a rant there. I'm in a company truck, so I probably won't be harassed all that much. My heart goes out to the owner / operators. Sorry, guys. But better you than me.