Legal weight issues

[patrick_g]

I'm hoping we can get some input on legal weight issues relative to pickups and trailers.

If you buy a really HD pickup, especially getting into the medium truck designation aren't you getting into a whole new world of regulations?

I have recently heard complaints that a 1 ton pickup with a large stock (animal) hauling trailer can be illegal even if unloaded because enforcement agencies just add up the placard weights of the truck and trailer and don't care that you are running way under the max, just that the max exceeds a preset threshold.

I'll bet I'm not the only one here ignorant of the facts who could profit from listening to the more knowledgeable among us on this topic.

I don't know squat about most of this stuff because it didn't matter since there was no enforcement of a lot of the rules enacted in the late 70's but recently the highway patrol started playing by the rules. Here in Oklahoma a private owned trailer not for hire doesn't even have to be registered or have tags. (One of the few rules I do know.)

Pat

 

[bondo]

You bet, reason for my F550. Was over weight with the F350 and fully loaded horse trailer. Have the "not for hire" sticker on the truck as we just do pleasure riding and nothing for money. Here in PA they are starting to crack down on livestock trailers, and did run across some issues in NJ and other states too. Would have gone with the F450, just couldn't find one with a pickup bed on it at the time.

Bondoｩ

 

[john_bud]

Yeah, there is a requirement for DOT numbers on the truck (if commercial - and even hauling stuff for a buddy is supposedly commercial). This kicks in when the truck + trailer exceeds GVWR 10,001 pounds. I'm still fuzzy about this as the definition of "for gain" is extremely broad.

Then the whole CDL thing kicks in when the truck + trailer exceeds 26,001 pounds. Weight is not the number on the scale, it's the larger of the scale weight, registered weight or GVWR.

Then to make life fun, each state can and does diddle around the laws making them tighter at whim.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Laws vary widely between states when you're below 26,000lbs. Check your home state laws and the laws of each state you intend to drive through. Yes, in many states you can get in trouble if the summed GVW ratings of your combination is over 26,000lbs, even if the tow vehicle has a GCWR below 26k and your actual total weight is below 26k.

There was an excellent, very very long recent thread on the construction equipment forum that discussed these issues and I think pretty much resolved them. Definitely worth finding and reading.

 

[2manyrocks]

I just renewed my truck tags in Tennessee. The clerk said if my truck, trailer and contents weighted over 9,000 lbs, I could get fined for using the basic registration that costs $75 here. The base level farm truck registration would allow 16,000 pounds for about a $92 registration cost.

The starting off point for you would be to call whomever registers trucks in your state and to start asking questions. If you go into a neighboring state, then you need to be asking about their weight rules and probably ask about their tag rules, too, if your state doesn't require trailer tags.

Then there are the rules for the number and placement of lights on the trailer......safety chains, brakes....and then you see some stuff on the road and you wonder what holds it together.

 

[Rara Avis]

Laws vary widely between states when you're below 26,000lbs. Check your home state laws and the laws of each state you intend to drive through. Yes, in many states you can get in trouble if the summed GVW ratings of your combination is over 26,000lbs, even if the tow vehicle has a GCWR below 26k and your actual total weight is below 26k.

There was an excellent, very very long recent thread on the construction equipment forum that discussed these issues and I think pretty much resolved them. Definitely worth finding and reading.

Well actually it is being resurfaced by states looking for untapped revenue sources...if you peruse 390
Regulations - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

You will find a little tidbit about their definition of a commercial vehicle...

Commercial motor vehicle means any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle

(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; or

(4) Is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.

This is what has the state DOT agents stopping trucks in a fishing expedition for revenue...