When did official towing weight ratings begin?

[wcampbell47]

Most truck drivers have a Class A, so they don't really understand who doesn't need a CDL.

I have been given so much wrong information by the police about this stuff, I just think the majority don't care to understand.

Look at you, you don't understand the rules either

In this case I err on the side of caution rather than have some hefty fine to pay because an ill informed DOT enforcement official writes me up for a perceived violation. Now I take it that you are one of those people that always have to be right so I will leave it there.

 

[Rock knocker]

Now I take it that you are one of those people that always have to be right so I will leave it there.

Really.....

 

[roadhunter]

Different rules for AG, commercial, and recreational use and they all vary by state.

Rock Knocker is correct that in many states the rules for commercial applications are different than a guy hauling a load of 4 wheelers and an RV for a weekend of fun. WCampbell threw out a statement that applied to commercial applications and said it applied to all situations including non commercial which for many states is not the same.

What gets me is the farmers around here. I know a couple that essentially operate hot shot services in the area and as long as they are within 150 miles of their place they have very few rules and regulations to follow.

 

[Bird]

That whole area around Elkhart, Indiana is very interesting. Literally dozens of RV and trailer factories with hundreds of support companies. There is a very large Amish community there. All the stores and factories have hitching posts and bike racks. Its nothing to see a hundreds of Amish people on bikes and in buggies on workday mornings going to the factories to work.

In 1990, I visited a couple of the RV factories; one of which used to advertise their RVs being built by Amish. So I was a bit surprised to see them using good powerful power screwdrivers and stripping about every third screw. Needless to say it was a brand I would not have considered buying.

 

[Bird]

I have no idea when the official towing weight limits went into effect, but in 1962, I bought my first showroom new car; an Austin Healy Sprite. No one made a trailer hitch for them back then, but a mechanic made me one, welded to the frame. I had the hitch put on so I could take Dad's 16' Texas Maid Fiesta boat to the lakes. And then came a time that I was moving from east Dallas to Irving. I rented a U-Haul van type trailer to make the move. The U-Haul people didn't hesitate a bit to rent me that trailer. But in 2000, one of my brothers, driving a Chevy S10, wanted to rent a 16' open trailer in Waco to take it 50 miles (no load) for the other brother to then pull it with his Chevy Suburban to move a little portable building. U-Haul refused to rent him the trailer; not enough truck to pull a 16' trailer of any kind they said. So the brother with the Suburban had to drive 50 miles into town to rent the trailer and 50 miles back to get the load he was moving.

 

[tcartwri]

Uhaul refused to rent anything to Explorer owners for a long time. Not sure if that's still the case.

 

[wcampbell47]

Different rules for AG, commercial, and recreational use and they all vary by state.

Exactly! I was considering hauling a car to New Mexico and not wanting to be subject to fines I called the Port of Entry to New Mexico. The operator informed me that if my trailer gvw exceeded 12,000 lbs I would have to stop and pay a fee. I was moving my daughter from Cleveland to Denver in a Uhaul and noticed in one of the states that the truck weigh station sign called for all trucks, even pickups with trailers, to pull in and be checked. Here in Texas an F450 with a flatbed is subject to different rules than an F450 with a pickup bed. So go figure. Has got to be a nightmare to keep all that straight.

I have run across situations where someone wanted me to haul their 4 wheelers to the ranch for hunting. Now is that commercial or non-commercial? I have moved cars across Texas for pay. Since my 10,000 lb trailer is considered non commercial and my gross combination weight is less than 26,000 lbs I don't "have" to have a CDL or DOT numbers on my truck. I don't have to stop at weigh stations. I don't expect to be hassled by DOT. Now the guy that hauls 3 cars at a time has a whole different set of rules to go by.

While my original answer may have been misconstrued by others the intent was to give some indication that a trailer gvw exceeding 10,000 lbs "could" put a driver in a set of circumstances he never anticipated. The OP described his towing experience as using a heavy station wagon with a big V8. Even if 10,000 lbs was not exactly on according to DOT rules I thought it was reasonable according to his experience. Now if he was towing with an F550 or similar I think circumstances would be different. Just saying.

When I was in the market to purchase a trailer I found gvw's that hovered around 9900 lbs, 14,400 lbs and 15,680 lbs. When questioned the dealers responded that the gvw's were according to axle capacity and also DOT rules. The 9900 rated trailers were non commercial and the 15,680 was the maximum a 10,000 lb rated truck could pull without DOT numbers and registration.

 

[tcartwri]

When I was in the market to purchase a trailer I found gvw's that hovered around 9900 lbs, 14,400 lbs and 15,680 lbs. When questioned the dealers responded that the gvw's were according to axle capacity and also DOT rules. The 9900 rated trailers were non commercial and the 15,680 was the maximum a 10,000 lb rated truck could pull without DOT numbers and registration.

Ontario is one of the places that you will regularly find 9900 lb trailers for sale, as you do require a Class A license to pull anything over 10K.

Same with 3/4 ton pickups. If its GVWR is over 9900 lbs, you require a yearly inspection. That's why this market exists, otherwise everyone would spend the couple of hundred dollars more for a one ton.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of good information and it shows a person can think everything is OK and still have trouble.

Here is hard to find a trailer over 10,000 unless it is a lot higher... my 12k trailer was derated for California to 9990 and now my brother's new f250 super duty is also derated to under 10k

One of my friends put a utility body on his superduty and got a ticket because the officer said the utility body made it a work truck...

 

[ultrarunner]

Bird... I towed the same boat with with clamp on bumper hitches and homemade hitches... do you still have it?

Posted before about going to the rental yard to pickup a walk behind ditch-witch, paid for the rental and provided my driver's license and vehicle insurance only to have the yard guy not hook me up because my full size pickup with trailer brakes and heavy duty hitch is a 1500 and not a 2500