Truck & Trailer ideas to tow 14,000 and be under 26,000 pounds

[stumblinhorse]

This turns my stomach. In life I have learned the hard way not to buy things that you push to their limit. Don’t save a few bucks. I was tired of blown out tires and worn bearings on lighter rated trailer. Now this. I will never haul 26000 pounds. But because I can it is illegal…. If I did haul over 26000 give me a ticket, I did it…

 

[LD1]

Your analogy is pretty good. It is like getting a ticket for DUI coming out of the liquor store with a bottle. Because you can is not what our laws are about…

I think I should flag down the next state trooper and ask him to issue me a speeding ticket too. Because my car certainly "can" go over the limit

 

[two_bit_score]

The officer smells beer on my breath and I blow under the legal limit. Will I get a ticket for dui? He says no.

Not to put too fine a point on it but he should have said “maybe”. If you were “impaired” due to the alcohol consumed then, in most places, you would have been arrested for dui/dwi. The breath/blood test “limit” is only the presumptive limit. The officers opinion and some articulable reasons as to why you were impaired would be sufficient to charge you even if you were under the presumptive limit of BAC.

 

[Hay Dude]

Not everyone has a "buddy" that has a big rig.....

But thats not the point. Why should I be mandated to be trained and tested to drive a "big rig" when all I want to do is haul some small equipment on a trailer behind a p/u

I don’t know why you put the word buddy in quotation marks. Is that some kind of strange word or something? Should I have said “comrade”?
The reason you are mandated is because once they grant you the license, you might change your mind sometime later and decide that you want to drive a big rig. You can’t qualify for a license for a “big rig” just because you want to drive a “small rig”.

Just because you want to drive a duallie with a 14K trailer doesn’t mean you will only and always ever drive a truck that small.

They are obviously covering themselves with a one-size fits all license system.

I don’t like it either, but government bureaucracies have the “deal with it” attitude.

 

[Hay Dude]

Doesn’t work that way anymore. As of 2/1/2022 it is a federal requirement to get training from a certified training company. I called several yesterday. I said “I am sure that I have been driving my pickup and trailer longer than the instructor”. Doesn’t matter. 1 place said that since I have to pay it make no sense no to just get a restricted class A. There is no difference in training requirement. So just spend the few extra dollars and use their semi and get the full class a. $4800 and 4 weeks of class…

Was not aware of that.
Another way to get rid of small, independent truckers.

I guess they figure anyone who drives a truck works for someone who will pay for the 4 week training course.

Still probably worth it if you drive a truck and it makes you money

 

[Hay Dude]

Nope not anymore. I think we’ll see what they are going to do about literally millions and millions of overweight violations that are on the road every day. Every local horse show, every county fair, a cop could sit by the diesel pump in my town and write a ticket without moving all day long. I see people pulling dual 7k axle bumper pull trailers all day. Every one of them on a 1 ton is a violation.

I see those pulled over all day long. It’s a source of revenue for them.

 

[LD1]

If they want a one size fits all license.....

And since there is no difference in the eyes of the law....

I should absolutely be able to take a test in a pick up and 14k trailer, and then hop in a big rig no problem.

If the govt has a problem with that.....and me taking a test with a pickup and trailer isn't good enough for a big rig.....then CLEARLY they should not require the same class of license

 

[4570Man]

If they want a one size fits all license.....

And since there is no difference in the eyes of the law....

I should absolutely be able to take a test in a pick up and 14k trailer, and then hop in a big rig no problem.

If the govt has a problem with that.....and me taking a test with a pickup and trailer isn't good enough for a big rig.....then CLEARLY they should not require the same class of license

You can take a CDL in a pickup. At least you could before they changed the law in February 2022. The problem is you don’t have an air brake endorsement if you take the CDL in a pickup. You probably don’t have a 5th wheel endorsement either but I’m not 100 percent sure on that. You also don’t have to take the air brake section of the written test if you’re doing it in a pickup. The bottom line is CDL is a wide category. It’s definitely not one size fits all. Getting a CDL wasn’t a big deal prior to them changing the law either.

 

[RandyT]

If they want a one size fits all license.....

And since there is no difference in the eyes of the law....

I should absolutely be able to take a test in a pick up and 14k trailer, and then hop in a big rig no problem.

If the govt has a problem with that.....and me taking a test with a pickup and trailer isn't good enough for a big rig.....then CLEARLY they should not require the same class of license

Was looking through the IL CDL stuff and it looks like pickup/trailer combo would be a class A CDL with L and O restriction L being no air brakes and O being no semi tractor/trailer so if you take the road test in anything other than tractor/trailer you get an O restriction But it also appears they don't list a 5th wheel restriction unless the O is that restriction. Can anybody confirm what O is in their state.

 

[Hay Dude]

If they want a one size fits all license.....

And since there is no difference in the eyes of the law....

I should absolutely be able to take a test in a pick up and 14k trailer, and then hop in a big rig no problem.

If the govt has a problem with that.....and me taking a test with a pickup and trailer isn't good enough for a big rig.....then CLEARLY they should not require the same class of license

You won’t have any air brake training. The only big rig you could drive would be with juice brakes. That’s why there’s an air brake endorsement.
When you hop into an air brake truck each time, you are supposed to perform an air brake bleed down test. There are additional air brake knowledge topics (gladhands, draining tanks, etc)

Now here’s one that always gets everyone riled up lol

You CAN buy an under 26,000lb size truck with air brakes…..

Then what license and training is required?