La. Admin. Code tit. 73 § I-101

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-101 - General Procedures

A. Accounting 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

a. All violation tickets shall be accounted for. Books of tickets and violation ticket book receipt cards will be sent to each field supervisor from headquarters. Upon issuing a violation ticket book to an officer, the supervisor shall sign and have the officer sign the corresponding receipt card and return the card to headquarters. None other than the officer to whom the book is issued shall write in a violation ticket book. In the event that a ticket is lost or spoiled, the proper form shall be filled out, as outlined in Part IX, Forms. These forms shall be signed by both the officer and the supervisor.

b. Distribution of Violation Tickets

i. Original shall be given to the driver.

ii. Pink and yellow copies shall be mailed to the enforcement and truck permits administrator daily.

iii. Fourth copy shall be kept on file at the unit.

4. Driver's License Receipt Forms

a. All driver's license receipt forms shall be accounted for. Only one book of driver's license receipt forms shall be in use at a unit at a time (except for double installations where conditions make it necessary for each installation to have a book). The unit supervisor shall sign the receipt for driver's license receipt book cards and return them to headquarters. The shift supervisor shall see that the driver's license receipts are issued consecutively.

b. Distribution of Driver's License Receipt Form

i. Original shall be given to the driver.

ii. Second copy shall be given to the driver with instructions to take it to Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) headquarters in Baton Rouge within 30 days, or mail within 14 days, with the payment, to secure the return of the license.

iii. Third or fourth copies shall be mailed to the headquarters office, with the confiscated license, daily.

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.

B. Maintaining Records and Keeping Manuals Current

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.

C. Supervisory Reports

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.

D. Personal Conduct and Behavior

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

a. No employee shall, directly or indirectly, accept, receive, seek or solicit anything of value as a gift, loan, gratuity or favor from any person or firm, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, who has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the department, or who has interests which may be substantially affected by such employee's performance or nonperformance of official duty. The duty of any employee to the department must supersede any private contractual obligation of the employee to any third parties; no employee shall incur any contractual obligation which could interfere with or influence the performance of his duties to the department.

b. Any employee that is observed accepting a gift or anything of value from any member of the trucking industry shall be immediately instructed by the supervisor to leave the DOTD premises. Details of the incident shall be reported to the chief of the Weights and Standards Police Force.

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.

La. Admin. Code tit. 73, § I-101

Promulgated by the Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Highways, LR 5:26 (February 1979), Amended LR 481727

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 32:2 et seq.