RickG

First thing , take them out of your windows and go back to stock . I read more and more posts of drivers being put out of service with them . I read of one driver with a CCS that was sleeping in a rest area . A DOT officer drove by and saw him but left him alone . But when the driver drove 10 miles and crossed the scales the next day the pulled him around back , checked his logs and put him out of service for 10 hours .
There is no way regulations will be changed to permit the CCS . There is no reason to accept it . There are compliant competitors . It may be accepted in some states but that doesn't matter . You may only operate in a dozen states and have it accepted in all of them but it's the Feds that do the audits . They'll cite violations for logging sleeper with a CCS .
The CCS was as still is at this time being advertised as meeting FMCSA regulations . That's fraud . OOIDA might consider representing you in a class action suit . But keep this in mind . If you've had it a while and it's saved you $2,000 or more in motel bills , legally or not , they can say you got your money back on it . Since there is a distributor in Indiana you might also get help from the Indiana Attorney General http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer/
Good luck .

Truck30Haul

This is true. The only way you can legally log in sleeper time is by getting a bigger truck that meets the sleeper requirements, which im sure many drivers can't really afford to do. I don't know why really that drivers will try to log something like CCS as sleeper when it really isnt. Just log off-duty and you won't have to worry about the DOT bothering you about it. Either line will regain your hours after 10 hours. That to me at least would be the only legal way to do that without having to spend tons of money on hotel bills.

It would be nice if the owners of that company will just admit that while the product they offer is nice, it doesn't meet the DOT sleeper requirements. That's at best false advertising.

rich

their is an outfit in fort worth called cowtown fiberglass that builds sleepers to DOT specs but i agree if you dont have anything to meet the specs log as off duty and no hassles

RickG

Just don't get caught logging off duty in the truck . Read the definition . http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul...?section=395.2
If you're in a truck you log on duty if you aren't driving or in the sleeper berth .

haulin-rv

Not anymore they pulled it off there site and are not selling it anymore.

They did, but still advertise it as legal on there site. Here is an email from CCS.

From: Tyson Labbe [mailtoabbeheavyindustries@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 10:39 AM
To: xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Written Consent



This just in:

The US Federal Department of transport has inspected a Crew Cab Sleeper at the Dually Depot. in Elkahart In. yesterday. The officers involved stated that they like the product and what it is designed to do for drivers. However they have to enforce the law as it is written. They determined that by the wording of the federal document 393.76 that our sleeper kits do not qualify as legal sleeper berths.

At this time there are a lot of regional and state offices still allowing the use of these kits. This may change depending on what paper work is filed federally. Now we have more work to do.

We will be lobbying governments on both sides of the border to allow the use of this type of kit. The apperent problem is the reduction of dimensions in the window insert area. Because we do not maintain 24" vertically and 24" horizontally. There is very little any one can do about this based on the size of the vehicles structural door openings.

If you or anyone you know of in this industry is serious about getting the government to allow this type of sleeper berth for current or future use we have to get moving on it now.
If you know of a contact in the government or a lobby group etc. that may be of use, please let us know. We will be fighting to get the wording changed on the sleeper berth document. Perhaps even an annual operators permit could be devised to allow one ton operators to use this type of sleeper berth. We will keep you updated as things progress.

Please let me know if you have recieved this email and any further information would always be helpfull.

Tyson L'Abbe
LABBE HEAVY INDUSTRIES
306-260-5457

Scotty

Anyone running a Mega cab with the front passenger seat removed? The dimensions far exceed the regulations. Not a lot of modification to do and a 4-6" thick mattress can go in there with ample space above...well over 24". Length wise and width wise its bigger too. You think DOT would determine its not a sleeper berth even if its over the required dimensions? Just wondering if theres some obscure or obvious issue with this or not. It certainly gives more room then those bubbles on the sides.

Scotty

Truck30Haul

Im not sure about the MegaCab, but alot of people probably using this unit have the Quad-cabs which are smaller compared to the Mega. To be honest I almost wish I had a Mega myself as it would be much easier to put in a small mattress in the back for better sleep (and comfort). But whether it meet the dimension requirements I am not certain; I have a friend that has a Megacab; I will have to check myself in person when I get a chance to see.

Scotty

That back area is big but its not big enough. Don't ask how I found out...well ok, DOT saw me crawl out this spring and all he said was; "For future reference, that area is not legal length." Thats what got me thinking about making something on the passenger side length wise. I am guessing since it exceeds all the requirements, its ok. However, I am not certain on that. the passenger seat comes out easy enough and to modify it for a bed appears to be very simple. Food for thought.

Scotty

Machinos

The seats come out easily enough but you'd need something to hold the center console up. The other issue is that you have to keep in mind that the written rules are written entirely with team-driving, regular old class 8 semis in mind. Even if you had enough room in the cab to fit a king size mattress it would STILL be illegal because it's "in the cab", not "in the sleeper". Maybe if you had some way to completely enclose the area you slept in without obstructing any windows, but you can't. It's really ridiculous.

Since there do seem to be a lot more 1-ton trucking operations around they really ought to get together and talk to FMCSA about altering the rules to be less specific to traditional semi trucks. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that even putting a REAL semi truck sleeper on your Dodge truck still doesn't qualify as legal because the opening of the rear window isn't big enough! I doubt that's enforced though, or I'd probably have heard about it.

RickG

There are several sleeper options available for 1 tons . I've heard if you take the door panels out of the rear doors of a quad cab , block the windows up , and remove the window mechanism from the door you will be wide enough . I've seen quadcabs had the frame stretched and a legal sleeper put behind the cab . I can't understand why they wouldn't just get a day cab with a long wheelbase and put a sleeper behind it . I attached a picture of a Dodge RV hauler in Canada . The truck has a flatbed with a hydraulic fifth wheel at the end . He hauls a travel trailer on the flatbed , a 5th wheel behind , and runs with this hauler with a semi that loads his truck to deadhead back and save fuel .
I know several haulers that have removed the passenger seat and installed a lengthwise sleeper . They've been o.k.'ed when checked .
The failure to meet 24" height in the CCS wasn't just in the windows . It was almost half the length of the mattress . If we still had the old HOS that allowed sleeper time over 2 hours to be off the clock it would be one thing but now one sleeper time must be at least 8 consecutive hours . It's really hard to believe somebody would lay in a CCS 8 straight hours . In other sleepers you can sit up and read , watch tv , and use your computer and still be legally logging sleeper berth .

Scotty

As the two replies show...one person says its not legal and the other says it has been ok'd. I would only remove the seat from the seat frame, not the entire frame to the floor on the passenger side. This makes it a lot easier to build up a level area for a mattress front to back. Theres 12" from the floor to the top of the back seat when its folded down and theres 10" to the top of the frame of the passenger seat. I think I might take a ride to the closest scale house here and ask. Maybe I can get something in writing.
With your head at the back of the truck, it allows for more room but its still trying to make something that could get rejected.

Scotty

Lil Dog

Any of the newer cab designed OTH tractors are hardly separated for sleeping quarters. The last Frieghtshaker I was in reminded me of a class A motorhome, just spin around and you are in the "sleeper". Pretty hard to enforce that one. The old rules don't apply IMHO...

tool

What a goofy rule. I don't understand why ther are messing around with this. Isn't the important thing that I guy is stopping and restin?

I have a class A license and have driven OTR in years gone by in big trucks not commercially in pickups.

But I can saythat I have put the seats down in my Mega cab and put a hide-a-bed mattress back there for a weekend in the bush and ound it sufficient.

What on earth is the big deal?

You'd think DOT could find something btter to do with their time.

Machinos

I agree, but for some reason if you don't meet all those requirements, you're "not" getting sufficient rest, which means that you're supposedly driving on no sleep all the time. For the record I took out all but the driver's seat from my quad cab Ram and built a padded platform for an air mattress and even though a couple inches more leg room would have been nice, it was very comfortable and I got lots of great rest there. Probably a lot better than guys who sleep while the truck's on the road when team driving get. But from everything I've heard and read, it only takes one **** DOT officer to take you off the road and/or fine you for violating some tiny rule.

Scotty

Thats so true. In my Mega Cab I had a queen mattress topper that was super thick. I was very comfortable in there. I got my warning after several sleeps in there and decided to do something else instead of hauling RV's. I still would like to try out a passenger side bed of some sorts for when I go fishing etc. The Mega Cab is awesome for my needs.

Scotty