Should Have Knocked on Wood
On May 30th, I published “Blitz”. It was a blog about avoiding inspections. It had been at least 6 years since my last random inspection. Truth is the last random inspection that I remember was somewhere in between 2004 and 2007. I took pride in my ability to avoid those randoms. I kept a clean dash, and a decent looking truck. Whatever was visible looked good. You will not not find a mudflap hanging or missing from my equipment. It worked, until I wrote a blog on avoiding inspections. Yes, on May 31st, I got a random level 3 inspection. Perhaps, I should have included “Don't tempt fate by writing a blog on avoiding inspections.” Or perhaps I should have just knocked on wood.
My Sunday cruise from Green Bay Wi, to Madison, IL got interrupted. While driving southbound on WI 26 on Johnson Creek, WI an SUV made a U turn behind me. It had to be a cop. I wasn't speeding. As a matter of fact, I was slowing down to turn into the Pine Tree Travel Plaza for a coffee exchange. The SUV turned in behind me. Maybe, it was going to circle the outlet mall. Nope, it pulled into the lot beside my trailer. Deputy Drayna walked up next to me and informed me that he was going to do a random inspection.
He wanted my logs. I showed him my fancy ELD, hoping that it would scare him off. Nope, he asked for the instruction book and my CDL. Then he had me email my logs directly from the truck. At this point, I really wanted to make my coffee exchange. By the time I got back Deputy Drayna was finishing up the inspection. It was good. He showed me how my stops were documented with GPS coordinates. It was pretty amazing to my technically challenged brain.
It was also a far cry from my last random inspection. That one was a level 1 in Lancaster, OH. That was back in my paper log days. The officer then found no violations with my paper work. After almost 90 minutes, he did find two brake lines that had slightly rubbed together. That was pre CSA. He let me tie them apart with a nylon tie. Both officers were friendly and professional. Deputy Drayna knew what he was doing, and I easily made my delivery on time. The inspector in Ohio made me late for an appointment. It was not a big deal, I was able to walk over to my customer to tell her that I would be a little late. Yes, I got inspected next door to my customer.
The ELD actually helped make the inspection painless. The inspector was able to finish the paperwork in about 15 minutes. We had a pleasant chat afterward. I showed him my bike rack. He is a biker and he thought it was cool. We had a quick discussion about what I do and what he does. It was interesting. I hope that he can make it to the show in Waupun, Wi to see the latest in safety technology, and maybe next time when I write about something, I will knock on wood.