The DOT # can be your best buddy

[raceman]

I am sure everyone gets a little uneasy when they are pulling up to the scale. Am I the one? Is this my day to go around back? When we see those cars on the roads no matter how clean we are it makes you just hair nervous, if even only for a second. Well one thing to keep in mind and that is the Law, ole Johnny long arm, smokey, they can be your best buddy. The Safety Director at your current company can be your best buddy as well. Actually any number of folks that can check some DOT records can be your buddy. What in the world am I getting at? Something I have never seen metioned on here, and I'll be honest, I could have missed it, is checking a companies background. If you are looking for a new carrier as an O/O or as a Driver, you can check them out. Just like they check your background, you can check theirs. Now I am not sure you can be just anybody but I now know if you can buddy up to a DOT Officer, at the shop, in a car or scale house, or a saftey Director at a carrier you can get this information. A DOT# has nice folders on these carriers. I guess you hope they don't but in fact you can find out some pretty good info on the company you are going to drive for or lease to by having the DOT# run. It shows ratings, logbook violations, etc. It is just a good read in many cases. I would suggest folks do this if they have any concerns about the DOT# they plan to slap on the side of their trucks or a company you plan to drive for. Just a way to gather some warm fuzzies in an otherwisw nerve racking situation. Now if everyone knew this please don't go nuts rushing in to be the first to tell me it is not new info. This is something that I only recently came to know as I was gathering some other DOT information. I am sure there are other ways to find it out but this looks to be a great one. It will blow your mind to see how much info is there for the reading. It has it all. I give it three thumbs up. A must see.

The Owner who once went by RACEMAN but due to the outcome of the Nextel Cup, am now just 6.

 

[redytrk]

The Web site is...
http://www.safersys.org/

 

[X1_SRH]

Thanks for posting that link for us redytrk! this is something everyone should check out when they are thinking about signing on with a new company. The DOT number on your truck will determine a lot of times whether you get inspected at the scale house or get to cruise on through. Thanks to Raceman for bringing this up - knowledge is power when you are looking for the right company. - X

 

[raceman]

I was not aware of the site but I have now looked at it. You can find out some good information on here without needing any help from the folks I mentioned in my first POST. If you know a DOT person or Safety person that can really get into the site the information is much better. You can use the site mentioned above to find out numbers of trucks, Out Of Service reports and so on. I got the information from someone with full access so I did not even look at the site myself until now. Thanks REDYTRK for listing the site. I now see the records for the company I run for and the one I used to run for and it makes me feel even better.

The Owner who once went by RACEMAN but due to the outcome of the Nextel Cup, am now just 6.