Got D.O.T.ed Today

[RustyJC]

... so tell me why is it our highways are suffering so much but we have had fuel taxes for roads and they have continued to climb for a very long time, hmmmmmm have some of you ever stopped and thought about where that money is going? Well i do!!

So, do you run red diesel?



Rusty

 

[WyattEarp]

Well now thats what im talking about, asking questions, have i Yes i have!!! see at least when im asked a question im honest with my answer, i must have strung a cord about the pork barrel politician comment, now those are the pple we all need to be directing our questions toward, does it do any good, who knows but its worth a try, I keep getting no response which is pretty much what i expected, there to worried about this Iraq deal and sending our hard earned tax dollars over there when they should be using it here to help their own citizens, makes a man think don't it.

As for the bio diesel home brew, i wished i had a way and know how to make it, i would use it. Thats not cheating thats ingenuity on the parts of some hard working individuals that are tired of the status quo... .

 

[RACE427]

Electric Vehicles

So what happens if you drive an electric vehicle on the roads? Who collects the road use tax on these vehicles? I see alot of them on the road near my home 20.

 

[RustyJC]

Thanks for the honest answer. Since I'm paying fuel taxes and you're not, you can hopefully understand how (from my uneducated perspective) I might see statements such as yours as an exercise in self-justification for tax evasion. My philosophy is that we're a nation of laws, and if we don't agree with a particular law, we work to have it changed. Unless we're willing to accept the consequences, we don't have the right to pick and choose the laws we're willing to obey. But, of course, that's just MY opinion. :-laf



Rusty

 

[RustyJC]

So what happens if you drive an electric vehicle on the roads? Who collects the road use tax on these vehicles? I see alot of them on the road near my home 20.

Excellent question, and one the politicians are obviously going to have to deal with.



Rusty

 

[WyattEarp]

sounds like you took the uneducated comment to seriously, that was not directed toward anyone other than thats a commonly used phrase. I do pay taxes same as you, if you had read the post closely you would know what im saying, but as far as laws are concerned just look at whats taking place in our court systems, this country is going to H*** in a handbasket very quickly, thats not my opinion thats a known fact.

As for the electric cars, local ems and fire depts have been warned about these cars with there electrical system, known cases of ems and firefighters being shocked and some severe have occured when arriving on a scene where a electrical vehicle is concerned, sounds like the electrical car idea was not thought out very good.

 

[RustyJC]

I do pay taxes same as you, if you had read the post closely you would know what im saying...

OK, I guess you'll have to clarify this for me. In one post, you say that you run red diesel (which means you don't pay fuel tax). In this post, you say that you pay taxes just like I do.



Sorry, but the two statements are in conflict.



Rusty

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

I haven't been through a check point where I was checked but, according to my inspection man at the dealer..... the turbo is considered a muffling device as it is the first thing that the exhaust has to pass through. As far as having a muffler, resonator or converter ( I believe some years had ) I have been advised that , technically, they have to be on there as is was from the factory, but there are also no rules governing the diesels. The gassers, yes, diesels , no.



Personally I have a muffler ( 16" ) and resonator still on mine, so even with stacks, ( exhaust exiting behind the doors ) I would fight them in whatever court they want , until the law actually states what I am NOT allowed to do with my diesel.



Its kinda like getting pulled over for having lights mounted under your truck for driving at night, and you get sited for that. But yet when you go to the station to get THEM to show you where it is illegal, and they cant SHOW you it is illegal. I just left them hooked up and left. If they cant prove it to you in the books, dont let them get the upper hand on you. JMO

 

[klenger]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the consensus from the anti-tank dipping crowd here is that it's OK to check a commercial vehicle's tanks, but not a private vehicle?

Incorrect: It's OK to test any other vehicle other than your own.

 

[CUMAPART]

Hammer--I am being honest with my post. I was not spotted on I81 and no one got a look at my tinted windows before I hit the check point. I was coming up Davis St before the bridge that goes over I81 and before McKinney on the right and the Cemetery on the left is where they had it set up. The SPD officer walked out in front of my truck and pointed me to the side with the dumpers and tractor trailers. It's as simple as that. I wasn't happy at the time but I cooperated with the officers. The bankrupt city of Scranton needs money and this is their way of getting it.

Mike

 

[jerrethomas]

don't know if it applies in other states but now in pa, inspection officer can do nothing about tint. that is up to state and local police to enforce that. the only thing that would apply would be you just can't have anything extending more then 3 inches down from the top of the windshield. Such as those cummins banners and what not!

 

[MaxMartin]

Total crap!!! I doubt we can do anything about it. It is against the law unless they can establish fairness under the law, such as stopping every 20th pickup.

But one pickup and no others, then without probable cause, they had no right to stop you. If you go to court and win you still loose. The time and costs will still be more than the ticket. Pretty depressing. I've been in and out of law enforcement for 30 years and have only met a few officers who don't get off on messing with the citizens.

 

[_Hyde]

To those that are OK with being dipped without a warrant:



Are you OK with other unwarranted searches or just checking your tank? Can they search your vehicle further? For illegal weapons, or dope or aliens? Why not just go on to your house as well and see if you have kiddie porn on your computer or some ugly shag carpet that was outlawed by the style police in the '70s. I don't have a problem with the police or other law enforcement, in fact I think they get the short end of the stick most of the time with our current judiciary. This is a judiciary that rewards people for spilling coffee and throwing out cases in which the police see drugs being put in the trunk of a car and upon shaking down said perps finding the drugs but the case being thrown out because of no search warrant. How is it to be? As long as it makes no sense for the regular guy like me how can you say its OK to dip? Are you not running red? Could it appear that you may be running red other than the fact that you are driving a vehicle in which red will effectively sustain combustion? What is next? Maybe a body cavity search while you wait for the dip? If you have no cavities I guess you have nothing to worry about. Is this one of the situations in which the Constitution is an evolving document? Would John Hancock have agreed to have his tank dipped?

 

[Hammer]

I haven't been through a check point where I was checked but, according to my inspection man at the dealer..... the turbo is considered a muffling device as it is the first thing that the exhaust has to pass through. As far as having a muffler, resonator or converter ( I believe some years had ) I have been advised that , technically, they have to be on there as is was from the factory, but there are also no rules governing the diesels. The gassers, yes, diesels , no.

Don. .

While that may be true it actually isn't. The PA State Inspection laws state that the turbo is a muffling device BUT the Federal Emissions package may not be tampered with in any way. If so the vehicle may be failed and should be if done correctly. Stupid catch 22 rules but they are there. The bottom line is if it was there from the factory it has to be on for state inspection,however,all of us know in this state most turn a shy eye away. The one last comment on this inspection deal,we here in Pennsylvania all know under our State Inspection code that a brand new vehicle right off the truck from the plant will fail,stupid but very true. One other thing those nifty stacks you have,which do look neat on our trucks,do require heat shields in PA for inspection which is a fail offense also.



CUMAPART. .

Now,see,there you are going to change your story again. First you say its a DOT officer and now your saying it was a Scranton Police Officer which is a far cry from a PA DOT officer. Now if your story leans back the other way then I'll have to tell you if it was a PA DOT officer then the City of Scranton get none of the monies so your comment is off base again. Again,I stand by my comment about you having been seen earlier,no matter if you knew it or not,and gave the officer a hard time. Both of which we all know leads to the issuance of a ticket to the policemans ball later that year.



Fuel.....

As for the usage of "off road" fuels and getting checked. If your the owner of a diesel powered vehicle and you are checked while using "off road or untaxed fuels" then instead of whining about it stand up and take it like a man. YOU made the decision to skirt the laws to save your wallet a few cents the you should be man enough to take the heat when its given out. I myself do not like the fuel prices skyrocketing anymore than the next guy,but, I'd rather put the heat on my local elected offical for answers and when they can not produce answers,vote their non working tails out. Yes the government has a loophole to check your fuels,but,if you have nothing to hide then why fight it?. When the low sulphur fuel was introduced a few years ago is when they placed ways for them to test for the usage of the non taxed fuels and that meant any vehicle using them on the road. There are some locals down here who found out about the usage of "off road" fuels a different way. Seems some of the hotter street cars down here run methanol instead of gas. We get a warm nite a week ago,throttle jockeys are itchy,street scene is in full bloom,locals bust up a drag race and catch a few kids with methanol. Now their rich parents are up in arms that their "good boys" got whacked bigtime for not only the race,but illegal fuels. So as you see this doesn't only pertain to diesel it affects alot of other types of fuel.



This fuel debate should be summed up like our trucks warranties. " I am my own warranty station" is the cry here and has been for years when we begin our bombing missions. That too should apply to the usage of non taxable fuels,modified emissions equipment,altered suspensions,tinted windows etc etc etc(we could ramble on and on and on here). You made the decision to do with your truck what you want,be it a fuel decision or a modification,and if it affects you when Officer Jabloney says sign here,take your punishment and move on,your blood pressure will remain alot lower.



Waa,my warranty is voided. . Waa,they checked my fuel. . Waa,they ticketed me for window tint... Waa,the DOT delayed me. . Waa,Waa,Waa,Waa... . Sheesh. . There are times I wonder why I even read posts like this... ... ... . Andy

 

[WyattEarp]

Like i said i pay my taxes same as anyone else, if you had read the post close you would have read into what i said, (I have yes I have) i said nothing about currently doing it. there was no conflict between those 2 phrases.

Besides i need a good laugh this early in the morning after work.

 

[WyattEarp]

Yeah its amazing what lenghts the gov't will go to, they for sure don't want anyone getting an upper hand or actually getting ahead, they more or less strongarm most pple into the status quo of thinking what they say is right, Im sorry but they are not always right in there thinking and their judgement and lousy judgement they have, look at our country its in shambles, some are just ignorant to accept the fact that its happening.

I myself don't think im going to try the refined cooking oil in my fuel tank but who knows what some intellectual person will come up with. I also think differently then most, I know sheep have a tendancy to follow one another even if the leader jumps off a cliff, sorry im the black sheep and don't think following someone like that over a cliff is to smart, im sure there are more of the black sheep out there, im not alone. Oo.

 

[WyattEarp]

Lightman, thats what i said in a earlier post, i did not vote for scum, i did not vote them in, from my point of view they need to wipe the slate clean so to speak and start over from scratch with the whole lot of them.

 

[JCulp]

just correct me if im wrong it was said by hammer that the offroad fuel still had sulfer in it i was told by my fuel man that there was no diffrence between offroad and on road except for the color- die due to the emissions and that is what we run in all of the equpiment we run on the farm . we have to pay tax on this at the end of the year . so why cant we burn it in our trucks if it is a farm vechicle-josh

 

[WyattEarp]

If your getting farm fuel and using it in farm equipment and then paying taxes on it at the end of the year, your getting the shaft, all farm or ag fuel is a deduction off your taxes not against you.

 

[apkole]

As for the electric cars . . . .



And fuel efficient cars . . . .



There is a movement afoot to tax by the mile traveled, not by the energy used to travel that mile. As vehicles become more fuel efficient, the bureaucrats WILL find a way to maintian their revenue stream.



I believe this newest tax genre has been gaining momentum on the LEFT coast.