Need educated on GVWR and tow ratings please.

[scesnick]

I am buying a 12K dump trailer and I am pulling it with my Dodge CTD 2500. So, If the trailer weighs say 3,200lbs. I should be able to legally put about 8.800 lbs in the trailer.
The tow rating of my truck is 13,000lbs. so this would be pushing the limit although the CTD is capable of pulling alot more.
Here is my question. If I get caught towing say 24,000lbs. and the requirement for a CDL is 26,000lbs. and over would I get a hassle from the DOT for the 24,000lb. load?

I am totally confused with this .

 

[tommu56]

You will have a problem if you go over the gross combination weight of truck eventually. I have a 06 megacab with ctd and woulden't try 24,000 lbs over the road
I don't worry about the motor its the stopping when some clown cuts you off.


I was yonger I put too much weight on my old trailer/ truck on my property and have payed the price of a broken crank once and broke the springs and center out of the clutch second time.

older and hopefully smarter!!!!!

tommu56

 

[kurtga]

Here in Georgia, as in most states a class A cdl is required to pull any trailer with a gross wt rating of 10.001 lbs. or more. This is regardless of what is on the trailer, if anything. A lot of people get confused thinking if the trailer gvw is say 14,000 and they have only 2,000 lbs on it they don't need a class A cdl. A class B cdl is good for a single vehicle (no trailer) with a gvw of over 26,000 lbs. With a class B cdl you can still only pull a trailer with a gvw of 10,000 or less. I hope this helps!

 

[George2615]

QuoteI am buying a 12K dump trailer and I am pulling it with my Dodge CTD 2500. So, If the trailer weighs say 3,200lbs. I should be able to legally put about 8.800 lbs in the trailer.)


If your trucks tow rating is 13000, that is the most you can tow so a 12K trailer would be OK. You cannot exceed the truck nor trailer tow capacity so you are correct in your
statement.

If you tow 24000 including the trailer weight and get stopped, the DOT will give you a ticket for overloaded trailer and for exceeding your truck limit, not to mention the damage that can be done to the trailer and the stress on the truck. They would probably impound you on the spot until you obtained a different truck and trailer.

If you have a proper sized tow vehicle that can handle a 24000 load (say a dump truck) and you are towing this for yourself and not for hire the you won't need a CDL.

Some states may vary. In NY DMV laws were changed about 1 1/2 years ago so you are now allowed up to 26000 without a CDL, just a regular drivers license, providing your tow vehicle and loaded trailer are rated for the load. 26001 and up require CDL. For example: a 14000 lb truck towing a 12000 trailer would not need a CDL. The same truck hauling 12001 or more would need a CDL. I believe this is Federal but as I said some states may have different weight limits per license.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I am buying a 12K dump trailer and I am pulling it with my Dodge CTD 2500. So, If the trailer weighs say 3,200lbs. I should be able to legally put about 8.800 lbs in the trailer.
The tow rating of my truck is 13,000lbs. so this would be pushing the limit although the CTD is capable of pulling alot more.
Here is my question. If I get caught towing say 24,000lbs. and the requirement for a CDL is 26,000lbs. and over would I get a hassle from the DOT for the 24,000lb. load?

I am totally confused with this .

Lots of issues and they should be considered as individual issues.

The trailer is a 12K trailer, the load capacity is 8800#. A fully loaded trailer will stress the trailer, and the tailer brakes, but you will still have a 1000# capacity left on the truck. Bear in mind that 1000# of extra towing capacity is only about an 8% margin. Also bear in mind that while your truck can tow 13,000#, that assumes that it is in excellent mechanical condition, the brake pads are good, suspension is good, etc. If your brake pads and shocks have 40,000 miles on them and you use the truck to haul around heavy loads, do not presume you have a truck that will have much of a safety margin.

Now my question is how would you be towing 24,000 pounds?

I will say this, if you get into an accident you will have a real problem with your insurance company if you are over your truck or trailer or combined load capacity. You would likely get an extra ticket or two from the police. If you are towing commercially, then the DOT will probably have a nice little chat with you, but if you are towing for personal purposes with a personally owned truck then the odds of the DOT being involved are minimal.

Before you think you can load up your truck and your trailer to their individual capacities, make sure you check your GCVW rating. The GCVW rating is typically lower than the sum of the individual weight ratings.

 

[scesnick]

Thanks for the info guys. I was not really insinuating that I was going to haul the 24,000 lbs. i was just wondering how anyone could do it legally when the limits are set where they are.

I called the maryland DMV and asked them . They said that I DO NOT need a CDL until I hit the 26,001 weight. Although 26,000 lbs. would put me WELL OVER the limit for my vehicle and trailer.

On a side note. there is a guy over at dieseltruckresource.com that actually pulled 40,000lbs. with his CTD from Texas to Alaska !!! He has the pics to prove it. It is amazing what these trucks will actually pull. If you have the you know what to actually try it..

 

[BrianW]

Don't look at only the max trailer towing capacity. Look at the combined vehicle weight rating. You can pretty much only tow the max trailer weight rating if the vehicle is empty and only has one person, the driver, in it.

 

[montanaman]

The state you are in makes a big difference. In PA, any trailer registered at 10,000lbs or above requires you to register the towing vehicle with combination plates. Has no impact on safety but it sure does help the state generate more money! You add the GVW of the trailer and the GVW of the truck and that's what you have to register the truck for. You can figure a dually towing a 14k trailer costs a heck of a lot to own per year. This is why dealers HAVE to charge delivery fees, either in the cost of goods sold or as a per mile fee.

The funny thing is that none of this applies to an RV so the guy with the 1/2 ton towing the 35' fifth wheeler that the dealer told him would be just fine behind that 1/2 ton, pays about $12 a year for the trailer plate and NO combination plate on the truck.

As far as having the 12k trailer at a weight of 12k, you will have a percentage of that weight on the rear of the towing vehicle so your aren't really on the edge like you think you would be provided the tow vehicle is rated for it.

Ken

 

[QRTRHRS]

As far as having the 12k trailer at a weight of 12k, you will have a percentage of that weight on the rear of the towing vehicle so your aren't really on the edge like you think you would be provided the tow vehicle is rated for it.

Ken

Ken, I am not sure if this is what you mean but this is what happened to a farmer friend here in PA. A DOT qualified local from Berks county pulled him in one day while he was delivering hay. He had his 10k trailer hooked up to one of his trucks. While his trailer axle weight was fine hooked up due to the tongue weight on the truck, by itself, the trailer was over.

You see, DOT asked him to drop the trailer so they could weigh it alone. He has a CDL so he was fine there. It cost him around 865 dollars and he had to go change the trailer registration before they would let him move it.

scesnick,

This topic has been covered many times, do a search. Beyond that, I want to make some statements.

Insurance: Most policies only cover light duty applications. Check with your insurer. A lot of companies simply won't insure that heavy trailer.

Manufacturers GVW and GCGVW: Check with your state but usually, the only concern is having your rig adequately registered to cover the wieghts involved. Having an accident is the bigger issue.

Ocasional heavy use is not going to automatically kill your Dodge CTD. I have 200k of often severe duty on mine, having replaced the tranny and the clutch once. The tranny was more due to wanting the modified shaft so I could keep fifth gear and the clutch was more due to the 370 injectors and other goodies that I added.

Finally, while the input from various readers is valuable, the laws in your state in conjunction with the DOT laws have the final say. Though you may not need the licensing that a commercial hauler would, vehicle, securement and safety regs do.

 

[Turbys_1700]

All the replys here are correct. Here in NC you've got to have CDL's if the trailer is rated over 10K. You've also got to have enough weight on the tag for both the truck and trailer. Also keep in mind that you've got to have a DOT sticker for the trailer if it is over 10K and you are traveling from state to state. This is a relativley new law. If you stay inter state this is no issue. The only way around this new requirement is if you are not for hire. Sometimes it's hard to prove not for hire. Further complicating the issue is the larger RV moving down the road. No CDL's required. Go figgure.