Advice on Trailer Purchase

Phred · Aug 25, 2002

wolbert,

Were do you get the or 10K? I know I live in the south and some might say we have our own interpretation of english /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif, but...

For AR:
It clearly says:
"Class A - Any combination of vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 26,001 pounds or more, provided that the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of the vehicles being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds."

Which means that you must have a GCWR of more than 26,0001 and the trailer must be over 10K to need a class A. This is what a big rig requires.

For Texas:
It clearly says:
"A trailer with a GVWR of more than 10,000 pounds if
the gross combination weight rating is more than
26,000 pounds."

Texas harv appears to have the same interpretation if you read the other trailer discussions.

Also I will tell you flatly that around here lots of folks have trailers over 10K with 1 ton pickups without CDLs. The law enforcement does nothing. Based on my research I conclude that its becase its legal.

Maybe a former or current law man like bird could shine some definitive light on the subject?

Again I am not trying to create controversy, I just want to get to the facts.

Fred

Phred · Aug 25, 2002

Gary,

Your right I never meant to indicate that an F450 was a 1 ton.

However, it is just as much a pickup as an F350 with a flat bed. A pickup on steriods perhaps.
Also the cost of a used one is about the same as a F350 diesel with the works.

There has been some talk on the ford diesel forum about maybe some day future offerings of the F450 with a real pickup bed. This would make it look like a "pickup".
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://forums.ford-diesel.com/>http://forums.ford-diesel.com/</A>
Personally I would rather have the flat bed and would have already put one on my F250 if they were not so heavy.

Fred

Bird · Aug 25, 2002

Maybe a former or current law man like bird could shine some definitive light on the subject?

Not this Bird./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Too many changes since I was involved in enforcing traffic laws (about 29 years ago, since my last 16 years in law enforcement had nothing to do with traffic, and I've been retired 13 years)./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif But I think you've pretty well described what the law is already, at least as I understand it. And the way I understand it, is that a CDL is not even required anymore in commercial operation as long as you stay under that 26,000 weight. I know my brother checked into it when he got into the tool truck business and didn't need a CDL for that truck with a 24,000 GVWR.

I got a driver's license in Oklahoma when I was 16, then moved to Texas before I turned 17 and got a Texas Operator's License. Then within a year, my dad's service station had a customer with tractor/trailer rigs that we serviced and I needed to pick up and deliver them, so I went back and took an additional written test (no additional driving test) and got a Commercial Operator's License (good for anything except hauling passengers for hire). Then while I was working a night shift for the U.S. Post Office, I took a job as a school bus driver one year, so had to go back and upgrade to a Chauffeur's License. And then in the late 60s, they came out with a separate endorsement for motorcycles (regular Operator's License had been all that was required to operate a motorcycle until then). So I went and took the written and driving tests for the motorcycle endorsement. So even after I retired, I was licensed to drive anything you could legally put on the road, and the only thing I had to do at "renewal" time was to read the eye chart.

And then came the time that the state sent me a notice about CDLs; new written and driving tests and physical required. No problem until I found out what it would cost, and that's when I went back to a regular operator's license (but kept up the motorcycle endorsement), since I didn't figure on needing to drive any big rigs anyway. And the last time I renewed my license, I even dropped the motorcycle endorsement since it costs an extra $5 and I don't ride motorcycles anymore./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

DK35vince · Aug 25, 2002

Phred,
After reading the class A requirements the way you pointed out ,I beleive you may be right .
Sorry to have sounded like I was argueing,but at the time I thought I was right !!/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

MossRoad · Aug 25, 2002

Phred,
The way I read your post is that if the loaded trailer weighs 13,000 pounds and the tow vehicle loaded weighs 13,000 pounds or less, for a total of 26,000 pounds or less, you do not need a CDL.

It also seems to read that if the trailer weighs 25,999 pounds loaded, you could tow it with a one pound vehicle and still not need a CDL. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Gary_in_Indiana · Aug 25, 2002

Bird,

I got a motorcycle endorsement years ago (as soon as Indiana began requiring them) and was "grandfathered" in with no testing, etc. All I had to do was ask for it. It didn't cost anything extra and still doesn't on a renewal, I believe. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Years later I forgot to renew my license in a timely manner (something brought to my attention by an Ohio Highway Patrolman, but that's another story). Anyhow, when I went to renew my license back here I was informed that I NOW needed to take the motorcycle exam as well. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

So there I am with all the newbies taking the road skills test. Everyone else there is on little crotch rockets or little trail bikes and here I am on my full dress Aspencade. I'd been riding years before most of these kids were even born. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif A happy ending, though, as I passed and still have the endorsement. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Gary_in_Indiana · Aug 25, 2002

"if the trailer weighs 25,999 pounds loaded, you could tow it with a one pound vehicle and still not need a CDL"

Are trailer brakes required on that setup? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MossRoad · Aug 25, 2002

I think the brake control unit would weigh more than the tow unit /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Phred · Aug 26, 2002

Vince,

We all get confused by this mess we call a legal system.
You have to be a lawyer to figure this crap out.
So many if, or, buts, and ands...

After all if it was clear then the lawyers would not be needed to interpret the code. What a nice dream!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Fred

Bird · Aug 26, 2002

The way I read your post is that if the loaded trailer weighs 13,000 pounds and the tow vehicle loaded weighs 13,000 pounds or less, for a total of 26,000 pounds or less, you do not need a CDL.

David, I think that is, in fact, the case. As an example, look at the Teton fifth wheel travel trailers with dry weights from 11,990 to 18,240 pounds and GVWR up to 22,000 pounds with lengths up to 40' and they're usually being pulled by one ton dually pickups driven by folks who do not have a CDL.