Posted: 3/25/2015 11:11:00 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote History Quoted: I'll illuminate that one a little bit for you. Under DOT, MCCO had been asking for SUV/Pickup Trucks for more than 15 years, especially after the police vehicle manufacturers started focusing more on smaller cars. For example, the Crown Vic went away. If you ever looked inside one of the MCCO sedans you would find a trunk full to overflowing of things like portable scales, creepers, inspection tools, and other related paraphernalia. In the back seat you would find more inspection tools, and a literal library of regulatory reference material, citations/warning books and other related materials. In the front seat you would find the radios, computer and a printer sitting in the passenger seat. After the larger sedans went away it was even worse. It got to where there just wasn't enough room to put all the necessary stuff in the car. It was also a safety issue. All that crap piled up in the back and front seats had the potential to become hazards during even a minor crash. SUV's and pickup trucks were the choice of most of the other states' commercial vehicle enforcement units for those very reasons. "Big DOT", as I called it, had limits on the number of those type larger vehicles they could have on the books at any one time. It would have taken a little bit of effort on their part to get the legislature to approve bigger numbers and they weren't willing to put forth the effort. MCCO was just a tiny pimple of an operation relative to the overall "big DOT" budget. Those bigger vehicles were allotted to other DOT operations. There were some concessions made in later years after 2000 for SUV's and pickup trucks for specific specialized units within DOT such as K-9's and radiation detection. When the unit was moved to FHP in 2011, command staff there green-lighted SUV's for CVE. And that's an abbreviated history lesson on that subject. More than you wanted to know, I'm sure. But there it is. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quote History Quoted:
I do find it funny how they're mainly getting Tahoes now when a car worked for them for so long.
I'll illuminate that one a little bit for you. Under DOT, MCCO had been asking for SUV/Pickup Trucks for more than 15 years, especially after the police vehicle manufacturers started focusing more on smaller cars. For example, the Crown Vic went away. If you ever looked inside one of the MCCO sedans you would find a trunk full to overflowing of things like portable scales, creepers, inspection tools, and other related paraphernalia. In the back seat you would find more inspection tools, and a literal library of regulatory reference material, citations/warning books and other related materials. In the front seat you would find the radios, computer and a printer sitting in the passenger seat. After the larger sedans went away it was even worse. It got to where there just wasn't enough room to put all the necessary stuff in the car. It was also a safety issue. All that crap piled up in the back and front seats had the potential to become hazards during even a minor crash. SUV's and pickup trucks were the choice of most of the other states' commercial vehicle enforcement units for those very reasons. "Big DOT", as I called it, had limits on the number of those type larger vehicles they could have on the books at any one time. It would have taken a little bit of effort on their part to get the legislature to approve bigger numbers and they weren't willing to put forth the effort. MCCO was just a tiny pimple of an operation relative to the overall "big DOT" budget. Those bigger vehicles were allotted to other DOT operations. There were some concessions made in later years after 2000 for SUV's and pickup trucks for specific specialized units within DOT such as K-9's and radiation detection. When the unit was moved to FHP in 2011, command staff there green-lighted SUV's for CVE. And that's an abbreviated history lesson on that subject. More than you wanted to know, I'm sure. But there it is. I've had an up close and personal look at them in many states, including FL. If they had to leave the portables at the office to make room, it would not hurt my feelings. I just love when they make me scale on them with my empty stepdeck. Yes, that happened in AL. They can leave the creeper right next to the portables too!
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