Road Traveler

Yeah I have been chased down!! they tend to get very very mad!!

Haulin_in_Dixie

Obviously you have never had a DOT inspection. I hope you are kidding, telling a joke.

Apportioned tags simply mean that you are tagged for the states that you paid for and at the weight on them. Under no circumstances can you exceed your tire and axle capacities, regardless how you are tagged.

Door stickers carry the ratings for the truck and are checked at any and all DOT inspections. For all practical purposes the mgwr is not valid if you are in combination legally. And on your truck the mcwr is not listed so must be generated by adding the mgwr of the truck to the mgwr of the trailer.

And an ifta sticker for vehicles over 26,000 handles the taxes between the states that you have driven. Bunch of paperwork. Some states do exchange the information between the ifta and apportioned but they are separate units.

Camarogenius

Well, I'll be crossing St. Clair and Joplin today. I guess I'll find out.

TRCM

In VA, make sure you have the following on your registration card, and trust me, it's a PITA to make them put it all on there.

Empty truck weight, truck gvr, trailer + truck gvr, # of axles (this must include the trailer), and total weight for which yu want to register.

I am registered for 25,000, as that is the most I can load my truck & trailer to (truck 11,000, trailer 14,000). Dodge says it is 18,000 max combined.

You do not have to stop at the scales, but after talking to DOT @ the scale in Suffolk numerous times, I had some magnetic signs made up to put on my doors when I am hauling anything except my own rig that say 'NOT FOR HIRE Personal Use Only'.

I was also told that if I am hauling a friends truck, and he is oonly paying for fuel (no profit being made) I am still considered non-commercial.

I have made 3 trips hauling other peopls rigs for them, with them only paying for fuel & food, for a total of about 6000 miles, and have not crossed a single scale, or been stopped or questioned in anyway.

WORD OF WARNING HERE !!!! ( As explained by DOT @ the Suffolk scales)

IF you have car plates on any truck with a gvwr greater than 7500 lbs, do not tow a trailer, or you can be stopped and ticketed heavily. You MUST have truck plates, which are a lot more expensive to get.

They are cracking down on people registering 3/4 ton & above trucks with car plates so they don't have to pay 200 or more per year for plates. If you have car plates on your truck, and there is anything in the truck that isn't a person or pet, it is considered cargo, and since you have a 9000 lb rated truck with max 7500 lb rated plates, you are considered overweight even if the only cargo is a small bag of groceries !!!!!

Mark Hodowanec

So, is the GVR the door sticker GVWR? Can it be based on tire/axle ratings? If you get teh truck plates do you need to pay the personal proerty tax like a car? Whaat about my Excursion, it is over 8000 lbs. empty. Do I need truck plates for it just to carry groceries?

Bonshawman

In Florida, if your truck has a "fifth wheel", and thus bears the "a portion of the weight of the trailer' (as opposed to towing it), you are a "truck tractor" if over 8,000# curb weight. The statute (in Chapter 320) makes no mention of gooseneck hitch. So, if you tow with a gooseneck in a truck which weighs over 8,000#, you partially should be a truck tractor (hauling weight of trailer), but as you don't use a specified "fifth wheel" connector, you are a heavy truck !

If your truck weighs over 8,000#, you are to declare the total combined weight of truck, trailer and max load for tagging. BUT, BUT, BUT.....

If you declare over 26,000#, you MUST have commercial insurance. If you are strictly private (hauling your own stuff not-in-business enterprise), that is PRIVATE USE, which is prohibited on commercial policies. So you are kind of between a rock and a hard place. Chapter 316 defines "commercial" as "in commerce and furtherance of a business enterprise", but Chapter 320 (motor vehicle licenses) makes now exemption for private use, nor does it allow the applicant to declare USE as they are allowed to declare WEIGHT.

I declared 25,999, have a private policy, and will be overweight on my tags, but under on all axles, tires, truck & trailer ratings.

I can understand FLORIDA DOT having an issue if I am under-tagged (as I have paid less to the State of Florida for the tags), but can anyone explain why any State other than my home state (Florida), has an issue with under-tagging ? It is a FINANCIAL ISSUE ONLY. Whereas, being over weight on RATINGS is a safety issue (which would be a concern in any state), or being improperly licensed could also be a safety concern.

If I cross a scale in Alabama, or Texas, or California, I have the proper CDLA. I have proof of private ownership of my truck, trailer and load. My truck and trailer, in combination when loaded, are under their respective GVW ratings. The front truck axle & tires, rear truck drive axle & tires, and trailer axles & tires are all under their respective ratings. I can prove I am not commercial, not for hire, and not in commerce. My brakes and equipment are kept clean and in top condition. I have flares, reflectors, fire extinguisher (safety issues). I keep no log book, don't observe any Federal motor carrier regs, and have no DOT#. I do put magnetic signs on the doors stating my use, and non-commercial. I shouldn't even have to do that, or cross scales as a "courtesy" - RV's don't have to cross scales. Some states have signage at the scales that say "all commercial vehicles", some states, like Florida, say "all trucks"....couldn't that mean pickup trucks ? I mean, what is a "truck" ?

But if/when I am weighed, my gross weight will no doubt be ABOVE my tagged weight of 25,999. I do not understand why any State other than Florida would have any issue, and I cannot obtain commercial insurance because my use is private, and I cannot tag for the proper weight because I don't have a commercial policy !

Guess I need a smaller hobby....maybe I'll take up singing ?

TRCM

yes, your excursion should have truck plates if you tow with it, but they may have changed the rules since it does have a back seat (they use to register these things as stationwagons, until the bumper laws came out)

truck plates cost more, mine are around 350 a year, paid in 2 bills a year. the personal property tax is paid yes, but it is much more, as the break is only on car plates.

the gvr is the one on the door, the gcwr is in your owners manual, and then you have to add the trailer to it

fiveology

Actually it is illegal to haul "scrap aluminum" if it says Coors, or Miller, or any other alcoholic beverage name on it. It is illegal to have any amount of alcoholic beverages in a commercial vehicle (including empties), unless you are permitted to haul alcoholic beverages, and in that case it better be packaged as it came from the factory, and you have a shipping paper showing it as a legitimate load.

Haulin_in_Dixie

Wow that is quite a post. You are looking to pay a big fine. Overweight is overweight, they charge by the pound and you must be legal to leave the scale in most states. In your case that will mean hiring a commercial truck to tow your trailer out of the state.

Where are you coming from, "no private use" on commercial insurance? I can haul what I want. Mine or someone elses. What you are complaining about is the level of commercial insurance at $750,000.

You said that you have a cdl class a. You must. What are you pulling? That makes a big difference. If an rv you probaby will be ok. If a freight trailer, you better keep a log, get a usdot number, get the weight right and the insurance right or you will need a second mortgage on the house to get home again.

GAmes

I'm aware of the prohibition of carrying alcolol under DOT regs, but if it was open and empty, there wouldn't be any alcohol in it. The alcohol in the dregs evaporate pretty fast. Next time I pass thru a weigh station and get called in I'll ask. A friend of mine already debunked the internet myth of it being illegal to sleep in your pick-up.

fiveology

I don't know where you heard it was illegal to sleep in your pick-up. What is illegal is sleeping in your pick-up and then logging that time as sleeper berth time in your log book. There is not one pick-up truck on the market that has a cab that meets the Fed's regs for a sleeper berth. Logging sleeper berth time in a pick-up is falsifying a log book, and will get you parked.

As for the alcohol, yes even empty containers are prohibited.

GAmes

There are members of this forum who have heard, believe, and posted that it is illegal to sleep in your pick-up. I have heard that the orientation classes of Horizon spread this rumor.

With that said I'll wait for a DOT guy to say it is illegal to have empty containers. Using that logic the empty 12 pack box I use to store cans of soda and V8 is illegal since it says Miller Lite on the outside.

Haulin_in_Dixie

Yes, well, you have chosen a rather expensive way to check the law. Each state is different on this subject but most will throw the book at you. Better check with authorities.

fiveology

It is not in anyway illegal to sleep in your pickup, as I stated above though it is illegal to log that time spent sleeping in your pickup as sleeper berth time (unless you have a sleeper berth that meets Federal regs on your pickup). That is probably how the rumor you heard got started, someone was told you can't log sleeper berth time in a pickup, and by the time the story is retold a few times it became, you can't sleep in your pickup.

Not quite, an empty beer can and an empty beer case are two very different things. As far as I know (and I check often) no one sells beer in a box (like one of those wine boxes with the spigot, that you put on the shelf in the fridge). So your empty beer case never actually contained beer, it contained cans that contained beer, where as the empty can actually contained beer at one time. See the difference. The box is not an alcoholic beverage container, the can is. Now if you had one of those wine boxes with the spigot, sitting on your back seat that might get you in some trouble.

Bonshawman

Haulin_in_Dixie:

My understanding of the commercial VS private insurance issue is use.
If you have a commercial vehicle, most policies I have found-to-date prohibit "personal use". If a guy takes a company truck home (commercial insurance), and then goes out to WalMart and gets in an accident, and he wasn't on-the-clock on a business-related trip, he wouldn't be covered.

Since I am not in business, with no commercial purpose, and haul either by deck over equipment trailer, or my enclosed gooseneck, with my own "collection" on it, to a show or such, I have no commercial use. My vehicles are titled "private", and they have regular (non-commercial) insurance. To obtain a 48-state policy would cost me $7,000 or so (give or take), and is for "commercial use" - that is not what I should be required to have. I'm not in commerce ! That's like saying you have to have a business general liability policy on your house !

The issue about the declared weight is just as I stated. I am curious as to why, if all my weights are within my ratings, a state OTHER than my home state (which collects the fees and tax), gives a hoot what my "tagged" weight is, so long as my equipment can handle the load. It just seems not an issue that anyone other than the HOME state would care about.