Recently I posted a message about purchasing a gooseneck trailer light enough to stay under the 26001 limit to avoid IFTA. I have changed my mind and now want to purchase a trailer 40 feet long. Going over 26000 lbs is no longer an issue.

What is an issue is legal combination vehicle length. My truck is 24 feet long (had a stretch and then sleeper installed). It was my understanding that a combination vehicle had to be no more than 65 feet. Because of the neck on the gooseneck a 40 foot trailer will put me at around 69 feet long.

Does anyone KNOW the regulation about legal length? I would like to see the web page with the regulations, etc. I would really be disappointed to purchase a trailer and then be shut down for over length by the DOT.

Thanks.

Tim

 

It depends on the state you are driving in. If you search through the archives you should be able to find a link to a great list of state by state rules.

 

Well, that won't work. I will be driving 48 states. I have to have the federal rules on combination length.

Thanks

Tim

 

There is no set federal length, as Citizen said all states are different

 

http://rvsafety.com/state.htm

Here is the information you seek. It's a great, very comprehensible list.

It goes to show how many people are breaking the rules.

 

Yea it was a good list. The only problem is that it is out dated. I wish I knew of where to get an up dated list.
Tom
I did a search............. http://www.glen-l.com/designs/trailer/trailer-laws.html
Here is a better one: http://www.drawtite.com/yhst-8989292...tbysttola.html

 

70 feet all states.....multiple trailors diff from state to state..all states will allow a 52 you come in under 70 feet.......you can get permits for longer

 

Another thing to consider is to measure your truck length from the front to the center of the rear axle. Then add the overall length of the trailer.

Years ago I got nailed on I-15 for overlength in AZ...a 30 mile stretch cost me several hundred in permits. They at that time had a length limit of 53ft!

It probably has changed.

 

I forgot to say that the sites I found ARE for RVs and not commercial towing. Sorry

 

Ahhh.....another pleasant afternoon on the outskirts of St. George Utah.

 

Because the new post search is shut off at night I missed this one. It is simple and I have had to work with it the last few years. If you want to remove the pickup bed and run as a tractor, you can run the interstate semi lengths. That is 53 foot trailer and any length tractor, restricted to 41 foot kingpin setting which in your case does not even come into it.

If you do not do that, you are tied to each states "truck and trailer" laws for length. Some are restrictive which is why I don't have a pickup bed on the truck. You would have to look up each state that you want to run in, there is no other way around it. The larger Rand McNally map books have a bunch of info in them, I mean the truckers version $40 or so in a truckstop. But you could look at them in a truckstop without buying.

On the tractor federal mandates you will find that it is 48 foot and any length tractor, but all states allow 53 foot. Now and then you will see a 20 foot sleeper unit on a long nose and a 53 foot trailer, that is with over a 300 inch wheelbase on the truck.

The states are all different, a 57 foot trailer is allowed in Alabama, but very restrictive in Florida and Tennessee. Northeast states are very restrictive. The big difference here is weather you are under the laws for "truck and trailer" or "tractor and trailer" Tractor and trailer has minimum standards enforced by the feds on interstate highways.

 

I also forgot to mention that most states have a special allowance for car haulers, in Alabama that is 75 feet. These rigs run all over the country and although I have not looked into it, most likely all states do to allow the transportation of new cars. All that would take is registering your trailer as a car hauler, with generally a little higher reg fee. If you see a truck trailer car hauler with three or four cars on the truck and the rest on the trailer with a stinger hitch, that state has an allowance for car haulers.