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Different State, Different Inspection

Have you ever been pulled over by a DOT inspector or a state police officer and been given a citation for something you didn’t think you deserved a ticket for? Ever looked at that ticket and thought “I do this same thing every day. No other inspector has given me a ticket for it.”

You might be wondering whether that inspector just doesn’t like you or whether you should have been getting tickets for that violation much sooner. It could be that the other inspectors didn’t notice the problem or it may be that it’s only a priority because of the state that you’re driving through.

Statistically, some states are stricter than others. Approximately half as many inspections are clean and problem-free in Conneticut as in Massachusetts. Are twice as many drivers really doing everything right in Massachusetts? Probably not.

 Photo by Jeffrey Henon

As companies struggle to protect their CSA scores and avoid out of service time and fines, I can’t help but wonder if avoiding certain states and going the long way around will be one of the strategies trucker have to adopt. What does your fleet do to protect your safety score? What states do you prefer to drive in?