6000 lbs 0n 7000lbs trailer?

[FlaDon]

I have never been weighed or stopped towing about 10,000 miles a year in IN, IL, MI, OH, KY, TN, GA, PA, MO, and a few other states. Big thing around here is if you have a ZTR on a trailer you are getting pulled over. No brakes on the trailer, break-away, or DOT #'s you are impounded. They have been harassing the lawn guys for the last 2 years. I could pass one of these cops pulling anything else 2 times over weight on a junk trailer and they would not bat a eye. Go figure.

Chris

They don't really care what it is down here. Lawn guys get nailed about the first of May each year. Rest get it during the rest of the year. As the closest weigh station is south of us in the Keys, the local DOT cops stop whatever they want to. Dump trucks with trailers, Duallys with tree trailers and tractor-trailers are by far their favorites. But they also go after trash haulers and people with enclosed trailers. They've pulled out and checked me too.

 

[some zilch]

I don't know where you live, but I wish it were like that here. Anyone in most of the Northeast with a pickup & two axle trailer is fair game for DOT. It would be impossible to get passenger plates on your truck in NY without committing fraud. Assuming that all other states regulate vehicles as yours apparently does is a gross misconception on your part.

]All I can say is you haven't been through NY, CT, or I think now PA. The state troopers pull over any vehicle that looks overloaded and checks them over. You may not have to go through a weight station. Here they will even red tag a load, and it will not move until the reason it was taged is corrected. In this case of this post (assuming the trailer weighs at least 1500 lbs) a truck with a larger trailer with working brakes. The 7000 lbs trailer I doubt they would let leave without a truck with a controller. 15-20 years ago this wasn't the case, but it is now. They even check tie downs and other things on pickups pulling loads.

guess what?? i live in NY, just outside albany; so i am quite familiar with the NY DOT rules and regs. i cant imagine how i am committing fraud when i have passenger plates on a SRW truck i work with a kid who has his dually f350 pass. plated here in NY. i also know other people who comm. plate 1/2 tons. i see no reason into why people think they need comm plates when their weight does not justify it. we all know there are those people who just have an f350 or f450 to pull their ego around, and their weight legally demands comm plates.

And no, anyone in NY with a pickup and car trailer is NOT fair game for DOT; where do you get this stuff? If its not used for commercial purpsoes, DOT does not want to be bothered with you. you are not held to the same regulations as a commercial carrier (hours of service, log books, chaining, weights/axle). if that was the case, 99% of people who haul cars on a car trailer would be red tagged for not having it secured properly, or would be overweight on some axle combination. also, anyone who hauls a race car, horses, or a hobby that may make them any kind of prize money "techically" has to have a DOT number, as the truck is being used to make money, at least when pulling trailer with said item on board.

Right now it seems DOT has it out for the landscapers, whom most all seem to never tied anything down, and pull the biggest POS trailers out there. I have passed several NE checkpoints with big signs specifically saying "NO PICKUPS"

since when did a state trooper, who is not a DOT cop become an expert in identifing overloaded trailers? no time recently in my book....

as previously stated, i do heavy haul trucking (overweight, oversize, over-length) on a daily basis, and am a constant target for DOT. i am quite familiar with DOT regs. its amazing that some people who haul a happy homeowner CUT behind a 1/2 ton on a 7000lb car trailer all of a sudden become DOT experts b/c they think theyre big-time truckers.

 

[RadarTech]

While I am no expert... I have a couple minor stories to share...
on a few occasions I have driven big moving trucks....
20-24 foot ryder's and penske's..

the first time I drove into a weigh station and it must have been a bad day for the weigh master... He laid into me about wasting his time.. (no trailer, just the moving truck)

the next time I rented one, I skipped all the weigh stations (SC, GA, AL, MS, TX, NM, AZ and CA) not once did I get chased down... I was pulling a car on a dolly.... when I reversed the trip, again not chased down...

ths next time (several years later), I pulled a truck on a trailer... NC to SC... I stopped at a truck stop for fuel, and there was a DOT car there...
I tracked down the officer and he told me that it is rare for a person to be able to overload a moving truck so they just dont bother unless you give them a reason. (I was kinda surprised at this one...) He came out and looked me over as a courtesy.. and then looked at the truck, said Semper Fi and not to worry...


As many have said YMMV....

A friend at work is a SC constable and has relatives in law enforcement... I'll ask and see what he says...


Later,
J

 

[Dargo]

And no, anyone in NY with a pickup and car trailer is NOT fair game for DOT; where do you get this stuff? If its not used for commercial purpsoes, DOT does not want to be bothered with you. you are not held to the same regulations as a commercial carrier (hours of service, log books, chaining, weights/axle).

Isn't there such a thing as a state level DOT? I ask because I have a few friends who are into horse showing and they frequently get beaten up by DOT cops sitting at the entrance to shows. I, too, got stopped hauling my tractor to my remote property to bush hog. I got everything from the portable scales to the giant Q-Tip treatment. That last part concerned me a bit because the DOT lady was really a prude and I'd never seen that giant Q-Tip before. When I saw her from my side view mirror marching towards my truck with that thing, certain areas puckered. I was releaved to see her go for my fuel tank with it. When I apparently had no violations she just got back in her station wagon and drove off. She never said a word to me.

 

[RickB]

guess what?? i live in NY, just outside albany; so i am quite familiar with the NY DOT rules and regs. i cant imagine how i am committing fraud when i have passenger plates on a SRW truck i work with a kid who has his dually f350 pass. plated here in NY. i also know other people who comm. plate 1/2 tons. i see no reason into why people think they need comm plates when their weight does not justify it. we all know there are those people who just have an f350 or f450 to pull their ego around, and their weight legally demands comm plates.

also, anyone who hauls a race car, horses, or a hobby that may make them any kind of prize money "techically" has to have a DOT number, as the truck is being used to make money, at least when pulling trailer with said item on board.

since when did a state trooper, who is not a DOT cop become an expert in identifing overloaded trailers? no time recently in my book....

Any police officer in NY can recieve commercial vehicle enforcement training and write violations accordingly. Go to Lebanon Valley this summer, buy a pit pass and ask the racers if they have been the subject of a DOT stop. Ask around a little, your world is different than you think. BTW, your passenger plates on the 1 ton with the service body and trailer loaded with equipment behind it are illegal in NY as well. You really ought to look into it.

 

[jagyzf]

Any police officer in NY can recieve commercial vehicle enforcement training and write violations accordingly. Go to Lebanon Valley this summer, buy a pit pass and ask the racers if they have been the subject of a DOT stop. Ask around a little, your world is different than you think. BTW, your passenger plates on the 1 ton with the service body and trailer loaded with equipment behind it are illegal in NY as well. You really ought to look into it.

"What pick-up trucks qualify for passenger class plates?
A pick up truck that is not changed and has an open bed can qualify for passenger class plates if the truck:

is used only for non-commercial purposes, and
has an unladen weight of 5,500 lbs. or less (the unladen weight of your pick-up truck is listed on the title certificate and on the door sticker), and
does not have any business advertisements on the truck."


I would have to agree, this is from the NYDMV site, I would think a truck with a service body would weigh more than 5500 lbs. Also why would someone have a non-commercial service truck?

BTW: A guy who bought a CUT I sold while he was strapping it to the trailer was telling me he had been sited by a state trooper for improper tie down due to he used 1 tie down through a clevis while hauling a tractor he just sold. They did not weight his load, but sited him for that, I don't know why he was pulled over. This was just a guy who had CUT and wanted a larger one so he sold his and bought mine.

Here is a link explaining the State Troopers do enforce the Federal Motor Carriers laws in NY. DOT is kind of a generic term that covers a lot more ground.

Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit

 

[VitaBene]

Any police officer in NY can recieve commercial vehicle enforcement training and write violations accordingly. Go to Lebanon Valley this summer, buy a pit pass and ask the racers if they have been the subject of a DOT stop. Ask around a little, your world is different than you think. BTW, your passenger plates on the 1 ton with the service body and trailer loaded with equipment behind it are illegal in NY as well. You really ought to look into it.

Agreed- I live in NH but originally received my CDL A in MA and drove there predominately. It seemed like virtually every town of 25K persons or more had a "truck team" or commercial enforcement vehicle. It may not be DOT or the State troopers that pull you over.

Also in MA every vehicle registered 9K or greater had to be registered as a commercial vehicle.

 

[Duffster]

(the unladen weight of your pick-up truck is listed on the title certificate and on the door sticker),

None of my trucks door stickers or titles have the empty weight listed.

 

[rimshot]

A Michigan State Police Trooper focus's on violatons and investigation of State and local law as well as Motor Vehicle Code violations, traffic accident investigation and in general protection of life and property. He is trained in Motor carrier law but is not considered a Motor Carrier officer.

Motor Carrier officers are trained in commercial transportation, man scales and also patrol and haul portable scales as well as truck enforcement. That is considered their primary thrust. When called upon they can still assume the duty of a peace officer with full enforcement capability much the same way that a Michigan State Trooper can enforce Motor Carrier violations. These guys used to wear a different uniform and their cars were silver as compared with a State Police car in Blue. Now days while each distinctive officer bears his seperate and specialized training, they drive the same cars and wear the same uniform. Government belt tightening has mandated the Department of State Police to take the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) under it's flag.

So, seperate training, seperate functions but either can cross over. I post this because I am aware other states have consolidated in similar fashion and in the current discussion questions about this have been asked.

rimshot

 

[jagyzf]

None of my trucks door stickers or titles have the empty weight listed.

I didn't look at my title or door sticker, that was pulled straight off the NYDMV web site. I have had 6 different pickup trucks since 1991, some I registered, some dealers did for me. Each one was commercial, until today I didn't know a pickup could be registered any other way. 3 of these trucks were new registrations, not a plate transfer, actually one I traded in car on it and had to get different plates due to going from a car to a truck.