Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 73 - WEIGHTS, MEASURES AND STANDARDS
Part I - Weights and Standards
Chapter 1 - Policy and Procedures for Weight Enforcement Field Personnel
Section I-101 - General Procedures

1. Payrolls. Payrolls shall be filled out by the field supervisor, signed by each employee, certified by the supervisor's signature, and sent to headquarters.

2. Expense Accounts. Expense accounts shall be filled out and signed by the person submitting the claim for reimbursement of official expenditures. Any receipt required for expenditures claimed must be transmitted also. Expense accounts will be checked for accuracy by the headquarters office and signed by the section head.

3. Violation Tickets

4. Driver's License Receipt Forms

5. Control Permit Forms. All control permit forms issued at a unit shall be noted on the register of C-Forms, noting the form numbers and disposition.

6. Temporary 48-Hour Permits. All temporary 48-hour permits shall be accounted for. Upon receipt of a supply of these permits from headquarters, the unit supervisor shall check to make sure all permits in the numerical sequence are there. If any permit is missing, the unit supervisor shall fill out a missing temporary 48-hour permit form and return it to headquarters. The unit supervisor shall sign and return to headquarters the receipt for temporary 48-hour permits card for the permits received.

7. Repealed.

8. Collecting Payment of Fines. The following shall be accepted as forms of payment of fines: certified or cashier's checks or money orders made payable to Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, and credit card payments using Mastercard or Visa. If a company appears on the list of "Companies Which Have Posted Overweight and Oversize Penalty Bonds," the fine will be charged to the bond. Write "Paid by Posted Bond" in the Remarks section of the violation ticket, and release the truck without collecting the driver's license. It is not permissible to accept personal or company checks when collecting fines, unless the violator has a posted bond.

9. Payment of fines is to be made immediately, except that any driver, of any vehicle registered in Louisiana, who lawfully possesses a valid Louisiana operator's license may deposit that license with the officer in lieu of the fine. A driver's license receipt form shall be issued when any operator's license is retained by an officer.

1. Violation Tickets. The fourth copy of each violation ticket issued shall be filed in consecutive order at the unit.

2. Register of Violation Tickets. Each unit supervisor shall maintain this ledger, noting each day all the information required for each ticket on the register of violation tickets ledger sheet, as outlined in the supervisor's instructions in Part IX, Forms.

3. Register of Control Forms and Register of Temporary 48-Hour Permits. Each unit supervisor shall maintain this information, as outlined in the supervisor's instructions in Part IX, Forms.

4. The supervisor shall maintain an up-to-date list of vehicle license plates to be confiscated, as provided by the headquarters office.

5. The supervisor shall instruct the officers on their duties and responsibilities, have them initial all memoranda pertaining to their jobs, and ascertain that all manuals are kept current. The memoranda transmitting manual revisions shall be initialed by all personnel, and the supervisor shall be responsible for ensuring that all unit personnel understand the revisions.

1. Summary Report of Weighing Operations. The unit supervisor shall submit a summary report of weighing operations to the enforcement and truck permits administrator with his copies of the day's violation tickets, driver's license receipt forms, confiscated operator's licenses, and monies collected daily. This report shall contain the hours of operation of each shift, the officers on duty, the number of trucks weighed per shift, number of overloaded vehicles, overloads and permits penalized, number of tickets issued, and number required to reduce load and shift load. In addition, mobile units shall note the hours of operation for that day and which highways they cruised.

2. Log of Scale Calibrations and Repairs. The unit supervisor shall maintain a scale calibration and repair log, noting the date and time of every scale calibration and repair. In addition, the mobile unit supervisor shall note the above information for each individual portable scale. In the interim, if any discrepancy in the scales is noticed by an officer, he shall report it to his supervisor, who shall immediately contact the section head and request a scale calibration or repair. This verbal request shall be followed up in writing.

1. Dress and Decorum. All personnel shall at all times be properly attired in the furnished uniform, which they shall keep clean and neatly pressed. Employees shall at all times be courteous, patient, and respectful in dealing with the public. All conversations shall be conducted in a courteous and even-tempered manner.

2. Supporting Fellow Employees. Employees shall cooperate with, support, and assist each other in all ethical endeavors at every opportunity and shall not publicly criticize the work or the manner of performance of duty of any other employee to anyone except the supervisor.

3. Threatening or Insulting Language. Employees shall not use threatening or insulting language or mannerisms when dealing with the public.

4. Relations with the Press. Officers shall be courteous to the press, but the release of any statement to the news media shall be made by the secretary or by an authority delegated by him.

5. Conflicting Employment. No employee may be engaged in any gainful outside employment when this would affect in any way the normal competency of the individual in the regular performance of his job responsibilities. No full time employee of DOTD may be engaged in the private escorting of vehicles.

6. Duty of Employees to Keep Informed. Employees are held responsible for thoroughly understanding the laws and policies they are charged with enforcing, and all policies and procedures published for the section.

7. Soliciting, Accepting Gifts, Gratuities

8. Unauthorized Disclosure of Information. Employees shall not disclose any confidential section work schedules.

9. Drugs and Alcohol. There are a number of restrictions on drugs and alcohol which must be observed by all employees. The use of either is prohibited during working hours as such use can limit efficiency and increases the chance of injury to oneself or others. Specific departmental policy prohibits the possession, storage, serving or consumption of alcoholic beverages on state property. The same restrictions hold for mind-altering drugs and other controlled substances including but not limited to marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, LSD and certain stimulants, barbiturates and tranquilizers when not prescribed by a physician. An employee found under the influence of any such substance or alcohol, or in violation of any of the regulations mentioned shall be subject to immediate disciplinary action not excluding dismissal. Any employee in a potentially hazardous classification or any employee operating state vehicles shall notify his supervisor when he must take prescribed medication that could alter his work performance in any way or jeopardize his safety or that of others.

10. Origin of Allegations and/or Charges. A citizen who verbally lodges a complaint or charge against an employee shall be requested to document same by letter to the unit supervisor or section head. Serious charges must be reported to the enforcement and truck permits administrator, in writing without delay.

11. Violation of Section Regulations or Authority. No employee shall fail to abide by or to conform with any authorized instructions, oral or written (including an unexcused absence). No employee shall abuse his or her authority by the mistreatment of fellow employees or the general public, or by threatening to do so by the following means: extortion, blackmail, or bribery. An employee may be suspended or dismissed for violations of any of the above-mentioned regulations.

12. Department Telephones. Telephone courtesy is an elementary, yet important, means of enhancing the professional image of the department. Telephones should be answered promptly, calmly, and in a businesslike manner reflecting courteous efficiency. An employee answering department telephones shall announce his unit location and his name.