DOT violation

[ATH]

OK...I could "kinda" see the justification if it is an open top (like a dump truck): they can't tell from below what is in it...whether it is packaging peanuts or logs, so they say it has to be covered. I'd still think that "secured load" is the key point. We had a DOT inspector talk at a logger's chapter meeting a couple of years ago. They admitted they don't know everything. I was amazed at how little they knew as they were peppered with questions. I would hope they would figure it out on site before issuing a violation though. Of course, for them they are going to spend a day in court anyhow so if it gets thrown out, no skin off of their back.

 

[evo]

Bark does sometimes peel off going down the road. Never seen a big piece that was noteworthy. Log trucks roll through downtown in Olympia. Never seen a tarp, ever.

Growing up on the oregon coast the shoulders of the highway (getting close to the mills) were paved in bark, and occasionally very large pieces too.

 

[Kris Anderson]

When I was a kid , my grandma was driving me back home after a visit . We were behind a log truck when a chunk of bark fell off and split in two pieces , one smashed into the car next to us and one piece shattered the windscreen of my grandma's ford laser. Both of us had to pull over and the logging truck just kept on going.
Just sayin it can happen. I thought it was a whole log when it demolished the windscreen .

 

[Mark Chisholm]

@Mark Chisholm did you have anything fly out? I only trap when we have a load of dead cottonwood where there could be a potential of bark flying off. But no, I rarely see it and rarely do it. I think your local DOT might be board.

I wasn't the drier but no, nothing fell out.

 

[Jasonk]

If its a citation than just contest it and they will drop it in court. As the states get more and more hungry for revenue they are starting to pick apart every detail. Here they have been getting extremely hard on farmers moving bulk produce as well as, haylage and corn silage which has never been an issue prior (just an example). Do a bit of due diligence homework and go to court, chances are that the paperwork will have magically disappeared when you get there anyway.