# Oklahoma is not OK



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

My hired man just returned from Texas telling me about how he was hassled by an Oklahoma highway patrolman as part of their continuing crackdown on "hot shot rigs" which is what they refer to the small flatbed 1 ton sized trucks often pulling bobcat trailers or the like. He was driving a fairly late model and well maintained F450 with an empty flatbed and nothing in tow driving well under the speed limit. He was randomly pulled over with no other motive than to safety check his truck. What followed was an hour to hour and a half check of everything imaginable (except maybe a cavity search) and was ultimately given a warning for the only thing that he could find that was amiss which was a cracked windshield. We had the same thing happen this spring in the same area. The public sure must feel good knowing they are being so well protected from folks like us. Dont know what you folks think but sounds suspiciously like "apiary profiling" to me.


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## matt1954 (Sep 8, 2010)

Oklahoma is a difficult state to begin with. I have been pulled over while driving a government car on official business. So you feel better, in1987 in Dallas Texas I was enroute to meet up with some ATF agents to serve a Federal Search Warrant when Dallas PD pulled me over and ticketed me for speeding in a government car. We were searching for stolen military explosives. It did not matter to Dallas PD that we were serving a federal warrant under exigent circumstances.


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## Rob Renneker (Aug 7, 2006)

If it's the same hired man I'm thinking of, and considering the time of year it is, he may have been discussing hunting with the officer during that hour and a half safety check....


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

I suppose its possible the officer sensed his nervousness and mistook his deer hunting anxiety syndrome (or DHAS as it is more commonly called) for something more sinister.


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## beemanbob (May 28, 2010)

The same thing happens in my area also. The Maryland State Police routinely pull over commercial vehicles along the I81 corridor. It seems that they pull over smaller commercial vehicles like landscaping trucks more so than tractor trailers. That being said, if you have a DOT number on your truck the inspectors do not need a reason to pull you over and if you drive a tractor trailer like me and if they find anything wrong they will put me out of service and and may issue me a citation.


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## scdw43 (Aug 14, 2008)

Some counties do not have any other way to make money. We have several of them in SC that have nothing but farms and pine trees. Not much tax money in farm land and pine trees.You can have the occasional cop on a power trip in all states too.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

Yeah, well, you boys just wait till you come out for the almond pollination. This sorry state is 20 Billion in the red.


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## gregstahlman (Oct 7, 2009)

same thing happened to me 3 years ago. i was 15 miles south of Sherman, TX and got pulled over. i was in an empty 2005 F350 diesel pulling an empty bobcat trailer. officer weighed my truck and went over everything imaginable. then he told me i needed a CDL for a one ton truck in TEXAS. (texas tends to think it is an independant country lol) anyways wrote me a warning because my marker lights on the back corners of the bed were not at 45 degree angles. told me i needed to go to sherman to get it fixed before i resume my trip. ruined my whole trip and got me freaked out, didn't stop till i got to Basset, NE and took a lil nap. dont they have real things to worry about????


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

CA- I flunked my first BIT (truck) inspection because I had not listed myself (company owner) as a Class driver in the PULL Notice program. The PULL program informs the owner of a company when one of his drivers has gotten a ticket or DUI. For about ten years I had to pay $5 a year to inform myself by mail if I had gotten a ticket or DUI. Sold off the bigger equipment and now we tow the 10200gvw trailer illegally. One day we will get caught, ticketed, and parked until we find a Class A driver to pick us up.
When one of my drivers did get a DUI, I knew on Monday morning. "Where is Leo today?" "in jail". It took the PULL Notice program six weeks to inform me.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Keith Jarrett said:


> Yeah, well, you boys just wait till you come out for the almond pollination. This sorry state is 20 Billion in the red.


For a second there I thought you said 20 Billion. So how does that work out there again, you sneak in from Mexico you get in state tuition but come in at a bug station and you get turned around unless you are carrying a load of illegals?


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

And how long ago did you figure out government work?


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

Lets not go there, we've gotten pulled over for not having a front plate on the truck, It got wired on as soon as I got home! I have been tailgated by a state trooper at night going to P/U bees with a trailer, not fun! I almost got pulled over for a "rolling stop" today, luckily the guy in front of me was speeding. 

mike


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

One of the last times I drove thru Ok with my bees I had 30 colonies on the back of my F250 flatbed. It was dusk right around Prior Ok. He pulled me over cause my tail light was out. He come up to the truck and stated his reason for pulling me over and then asked if that was empty equipment on the back of my truck. Which I didnt have netted. Them girls were as free as a farm dog to go where they want. I said no sir. Them boxes are full, I am enroute to Kansas City. 

That was the fastest traffic stop I ever had where I was in the wrong.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

Just recently I drove 2000 miles through the UK - England up through Scotland and back again... never in a straight line, rambling across both. I never say a patrolman - I really do not understand it. I did see many highway cameras, but surely they have not replaced their "Highway Men" with cameras, but it sure looked like it to me! Never saw a truck check point either. Of course diesel was about $6.40 a gallon and guess that will slow you down.


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## queenking (Oct 24, 2007)

ny is 13 tril in det


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

beemanbob said:


> "The same thing happens in my area also. The Maryland State Police routinely pull over commercial vehicles along the I81 corridor. It seems that they pull over smaller commercial vehicles like landscaping trucks more so than tractor trailers..."



That's cause the smaller trucks are easier to catch! lol


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Kingfisher Apiaries said:


> we've gotten pulled over for not having a front plate on the truck,


Same here, except that mine was upside down...due to holes on plate and my bumper. Got pulled over by the US Border Patrol near the Canada border in NY. Comes to my window with his hand on his gun...ready for bear? Would you shoot me because my plate is upside down?


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

matt1954 said:


> Oklahoma is a difficult state to begin with. I have been pulled over while driving a government car on official business. So you feel better, in1987 in Dallas Texas I was enroute to meet up with some ATF agents to serve a Federal Search Warrant when Dallas PD pulled me over and ticketed me for speeding in a government car. We were searching for stolen military explosives. It did not matter to Dallas PD that we were serving a federal warrant under exigent circumstances.


We have had this happen..or tired to have happen. The quickest way to resolve the situation is to tell the trooper that if he detains you one minute longer you will be arresting him for obstruction. Once in Georgia we had a guy play hardball and we did hook him, locked his car on the side of the road and took him with us to serve the warrant. We "allowed" his supervisor to come get him instead of us taking him to lock up because we "understood" he was just a bit confused and his supervisor appreciated us being so understanding.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Heck yeah I would. Maybe an upside down plate says to a Border Patrol person that whoever stole those plates didn't know enuf to put them on properly, but they might know enuf to be able to do something bad. The mindset of Border Patrol Agents. A sign of the times we live in.

It's all a hassle, keeping honest people honest. Would you rather be flying? Not me.

We are having a DOT person speak to us at our annual state mtng in Syracuse this Friday and Saturday, so maybe we will be able to avoid some tickets when we do get a roadside check. But, you all know it is just a matter of time. There is always something coming apart, like lights that get scraped on the tail of a trailer coming out of a beeyard.


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

queenking said:


> ny is 13 tril in det


If that translates in English to "New York is 13 trillon dollars in debt" then that is a wild exageration. 60.4 billion dollars is closer to reality. 

True, $60.4 billion is high, but there is no need to get silly about it. 

Wayne


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

jim lyon said:


> I suppose its possible the officer sensed his nervousness and mistook his deer hunting anxiety syndrome (or DHAS as it is more commonly called) for something more sinister.


I suffer from that on a regular basis!


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## JohnAllen (Jul 2, 2010)

t: 13 trillion is the correct number but that is the national debt


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

I cannot say any more bad things about state troopers. I had a "accident" involving a trailer and 4wheeler today. We were leaving our deer lease today and before we got out I noticed one of the wheels were wobbling. All the lug nuts were tight and there was nothing else I could check/fix out there. I got halfway home and we started seeing smoke out back. Then the whole tire/hub/bearing case/part of axle came off while I was driving a little over 55 mph. Bear in mind this is with a 800 pound 4 wheeler on the trailer. Right after we pulled over a state trooper came by. He blocked the traffic so that we could unhook it and get the 4 wheeler in the back of the truck. This particular stretch of road has minimal visibility due to hills and turns. If he hadn't come, I would have pulled into the ditch across the road to load the 4 wheeler and I would have gotten stuck. Turns out it was one of those muck holes that you couldn't see from the side of the road. All is well except for the trailer. Bottom line, most of the time they are there to help. 

mike


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

That's not far off the point of my original thread. That 1 to 2 hour random "safety checks" are maybe not the best use of public resources. For some reason my mind is wandering off track to TSA screening or maybe that's not really off topic after all :scratch:


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