tombogue99

I've got a 20' flatbed gooseneck dual tandem trailer rated at 20k. I need to drive 1000 miles to pick up a 10k load and bring back.

My truck is a 3500 SRW CTD with a 9900lb weight rating. I only use the trailer to haul hay around my farm so I've never took it on a long trip with a load. I don't really know if this would be a good idea or not with 2000 miles of interstate with regaulations and what not.
Also, would I have to stop at weigh stations or not? Its not a commercial vehicle so I'm not sure.

Trailer: 6k lbs
Load:10k lbs

what do you all think?

Thanks.

hamilton71801

I believe as long as your "not for hire", you will be fine. RV's wiegh more than that I we don't have to stop at weight stations. I say let'er rip.

cincydiesel

That question is like opening a can of worms around here.. If it were me I'd do it.

nkennedy

Watch how you load the trailer. Don't go over your truck's rear axel caps, or tire ratings when you have the loaded trailer hitched up. You will probably have to go to a scale near where you load. Check the tires good on the trailer before you take off on a long trip like that too. I'd have a couple spares. Your not commercial, and therefore don't stop at weigh stations.

CD in NM

You don't have to stop at the weigh stations if you are not commercial or for hire. You do have to stop at DOT checks IF they wave you in. If you have a regular DL, then 'technically' you are limited to a 10K tow as a regular DL is limited to 3 axles in combo not to exceed a 10K tow.

Your truck is registered or plated for a given gross weight, you trailer is also registered or plated for a given gross weight, the sum total of those weights is the max gross weight, front bumper to trailer rear bumper that you can have in combo on the road. Make sure you have enought plated gross weight for what you are hauling.

Many DOT checks ARE located as scales, some are not, they use portable scales. The fines for being under registered or under plated are steep. Same applies to the fines for having a DL that does not reflect the class of use.

While the RVers DO travel in vehicles that weigh more than our rigs, many come from states that have a seperate DL class for driving an RV, most who drive them DO have the correct license. While the RVers have their own issues about DL's, that is a seperate bunch of issues than those that we have, stay focused on what applies to you and your vehicle. Mixing apples and oranges won't cover your butt if you get pulled over in a DOT check.

In my state, New Mexico, we have an 'E' class DL, it is basically the same as an 'A' class license, but it is issued to those who ARE non-commercial or not for hire. You might want to check with you state to see if they offer that kind of license. It covers your DL needs when you exceed the basics of the regular DL's parameters. My truck is registered for a gross of 13,999K, the plate costs me a little more. All of my trailers are registered at their max grosses for their class. Having those higher plates, paying the higher fees for them, is well worth not having issues with the DOT and even though it costs me a little more in registrations annuall, it saves me when I have been stopped in DOT checks from the high fines. I have been stopped in them. I have not been fined becuase I had the registrations in order. In fact, one of the DOT guys made a comment to me about how they LOVE to stop trucks our size towing good-sized loads because most of them are under registered for what they are hauling. Makes for good revenue for them. He also told me that out of a couple dozen rigs like ours that they had already stopped that day, I was the first to clear their check without any issues. That check was in Kansas.

Make sure you have a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, safety triangles - pretty much all the basics that commercial trucks must carry. They get a little wierd about not having a log book, but for whatever reason they cannot force that issue on us 'private' non-commercial haulers. I carry a fuel mileage book, also keep my maintenance records in it. That is what I showed them and they seemed to be satisfied with it. I also keep the undercarriage of my truck very clean. If they see a lot of what appears to them to be anything that may be leaking or in need of repairs, they can red tag you on the spot, that's how picky they can get about things if they feel the need.


CD

knc77

You might also want to check into the definition of 'commercial'. What some might want to call personal others might see as commercial.

CD gives some good advise. Best thing to do is give the DOT in your state a call and ask questions.

Most people probably don't realize that the standard pickup plate (at least in IA) is for 3 tons. My truck weighs 7500 empty. Technically I would not be plated enough if I had licensed my truck with the standard pickup plates.

rich

the only real main issue is your drivers liscense class for the total weight you could carry

knc77

Open can of worms

I disagree. GCVW over 10,000 and crossing state lines opens up the Fed regs. Real pain it appears after all the research I did earlier this year. I even called the state DOT office and asked questions. It doesn't take much of a trailer in tow to be over 10,000 with these trucks.
Once you start looking into what the fed regs are, the first question is about commercial use. In general I would say if there is any money associated with the load that will show up on a line on tax forms, it is commercial. Some take the definition to an extreme and say if you cross a state line hauling a horse to a horse show and win a ribbon, it is commercial use of the vehicle. The commercial use definition is not very clear.

Bottom line, you can do what you want until law enforcement stops you. Then ignorance of the law is not a defense.

Close can of worms

tombogue99

I have a class A so thats not a problem. The trailer weighs 6k with tandem 10k axles so the trailer is certainly not a problem. I suppose the only problem would be the weight on my truck axle from what I'm hearing here. I'm not sure what the truck weighs but surely I could position enough of the load on the trailer to keep most of it off the truck, of course I don't want too much off the truck.

RPegram

I don't know about Kentucky, but here in NC we have to license our trucks to carry the combined gross weight of truck and trailer. Trailer tags are cheap and have no weight on them. If towing a camper then it is classified as mobile home, so you only have to license for weight of truck when camper is attached. You will need a class A license if trailer is over 10,000lbs and totaled combined weight is over 26,000. As long as you stay under that 26,000lb GCVW, you will not fall under Federal Regulations. You are not required to have a CDL as long as vehicle registered and actual weight of vehicle and trailer are below 26,000lbs. Your best bet is to contact local Motor Carrier and talk with ones who will write citation.

rich

knc77 your noyt even close to closing the can of worms on a topic like this. you dont have to cross state lines to be in fed regs in most states just over the 26k combo. also its not what its registered for but what the manufacturer has the vehicles taggedd for. been thru all this stuff due to the fact i have a commercial trucking outfit

rfeiller

ca is the rating of the combined gvwr of each vehicle empty or full. you are way over

HMX-1

Another easy fix is have signs up in the rear passenger windows of a QC clearly stating "NOT FOR HIRE", and definately not be overloaded.

Each state has a DOT website, so check those out before you make the trip to get good info.



Kris

CD in NM

Technically speaking - if one dime of fed money went into the construction of a road - then the fed DOT has rights to enforce regs. Most all states have been pressured sufficiently to bring all their DOT laws up to the fed DOT. Most of the states have the retention rights to perform their own DOT inspections, keeps the fed DOT at bay some, but the fed DOT has been doing enforcement on interchanges and US highways because they have some retention rights regarding inspection on them. Kind of a mixed up baleywick of sorts as to who does what, but they seem to have agreed on who does what and where.

While all these law changes are in the works, not all states are created equally yet regarding some things, we are kind of at their mercy so to speak. All of this 'different stuff' will soon come to an end if states want fed money to build roads or repair them because the fed DOT is now the underlying basis for getting money out of the fed these days for those purposes.

I want to say (from heresay information) that the states were give a deadline to fully comply with fed DOT by some time like 2012, but I am not sure about the compliance date. They began this process many moons ago by standardizing commercial DL's nationwide, every state had to get on the same page with DL requirements. AIt wont be long before every state will be on the same page regarding non-commercial DL's and also registrations, etc. We all might as well get real acquainted with the fed DOT regs and set them as our standard of operation as they will be what it all ends up to be. Since they are tougher than some state laws, buck up to the tougher standard and get it over with.

Any road that is an interstate or US highway route IS subject to fed regs even if you have not left your state. It is more customary for each state to do their own in-state DOT checks, but, those checks are centered around the fed DOT standards. The only time that they use a state DOT standard is if it would be tougher than the fed DOT. I have never heard of anyone discussing where a state DOT is tougher than a fed DOT, so I don't know if such a thing exists, but if it did, it would supercede the fed.



CD

morpheus

I agree to disagree. Depends on the regs in his home state.