That is 48 foot trailer length not overall length. See a pickup bed makes the vehicle a truck. Without one it cannot haul freight of any kind without a trailer. A flat bed gives the same deal, it can carry freight.

RV is exempt from the IFTA rules, what I put in the post is directly from the IFTA manual.

A tractor is defined as a unit to pull trailers only. Yes you are right, car haulers pull every day into Florida with 53 foot trailers. They get away with it until some scalemaster or state cop decides to write him up, then the fine is not good. In my case the only purpose for my truck is the business so it was easier to pull the bed and the next registration was for a "tractor"

Let me put it this way, in commercial as well as private, the laws are broken every day, some car haulers have no permits or even a name on the truck, they run that way constantly, but sooner or later they get caught and get legal.

 

just out of curiousity .....is there a definition anywhere that states how a trailer lenght is measured in those states?

1. from the GN/5th wheel hitch to the rear of the trailer

2. from the front most poertion of the trailer to the rear most portion of the trailer

3. the lenght of flat or continuos flooring for cargo. (in this case the raised GN portion would nt count.

I only ask since #1 & #3 seems to make more sence since the overhang in fron t of the actual GN connection could vary substantially on the same trailer....and some one mentioned earlier ....that open GN were measured by the flat floor? The GN portion is overlap anyways.

 

Trailer length for the legal purposes is always from the front most part to the rear most part. They are more worried about turning corners and did not have gn in mind with the laws. You are allowed four foot total overhang, front or rear or both. Some states allow more. Car carriers get away with flip out ramps that extend the trailer but do not count on the length, usually they don't count the front flipout but the rear must be within four foot. To haul four full size cars end to end it takes 56 to 57 feet of bed length. In Alabama 57 is legal but not in the ajoining states.