DMV Crackdown

[gymracer01]

I guess what some are saying here is leave well enough alone. I'm sure I don't want to go through a scale house even though I am not over length. My motorhome has a GVW of 10,500 and it weighs 13,400 without the trailer. Going down the road with my car and tailer, I'm at 21,000+. I have tried to ask and check on plates and such but get all kinds of answers. Guess it is better to beg forgivness instead of permission. This deal is like what we ran into this week with a local car show to benfit my automotive class. We have been working on it for 3 months and filed the paper work for a non-profit and got insurance and leased a facility and then we get a call from some guy that says he is the enforcement officer for the state of Tennesse and if we don't get a permit he will come give us a ticket that is many times the price of the permit. So we send a guy to Nashville to get the permit because we had to have it 10 days in advance and find out that no, in our case we don't need it. One hand don't know what the other is doing.
Jim N.

[John Quinn]

Originally Posted by 1664SSJA

... and one guy on here mentioned carrying some book with some laws in it...... Heck, just the guy that picked up MY race car this year, came with a 3/4 ton PU, 26 ft enclosed...............3 people in truck....... he was overweight pulling out of my driveway!
Mark

The book mentioned is the Federal regulations book giving the definition of what type of vehicle usage is considered commercial. I believe Federal regulations set the legal standard.

How heavy is your former car anyway? My 3/4 ton truck has a GVWR of 8800 lbs and a GVRA of 6085. Does the tongue weight on a 26 ft trailer with your old car exceed that?

[John Quinn]

Originally Posted by Ed OBrien

John
They add the GVW of the truck and trailer for total Wt. and that is what gets the ticket most of the time but they can weigh every wheel if necessary . Have a nice day

I guess I'll have to go upstairs at work and talk to the truck enforcment people about this.

[mike withers]

I have some friends who live here in WV who were ticketed on I-77 in NC two years ago. They were towing a 22ft. enclosed trailer with a 3/4ton extended cab. The officer was not interested in seeing what the gross vehicle weight iof the truck or the capacity of the trailer axles he was only concerned with determinig that the total weight of the truck and trailer exceeded the weight listed on the vehicle registration card.. That is why he issued the ticket. In other words it came down to paying an extra fee for the commercial pkate. Here in WV we can buy a "B" plate for our trucks and pay an extra fee for the additional weight of the trailer being towed. The WV DOT has been stopping rigs to check to see if their license registration reflects the weight of the truck and trailer. That was the case with my friends who were ticketed in NC. Is it a safety issue or a Dollar$ issue? You be the judge.

[Bob Pagano]

Ed, Your wrong in 3 years when you have to get a new physical you would have failed and they do not have to renew your cdl. You can ware glasses but within certain limits and if your blind in one eye your done and thats what happened to one of my drivers after being grandfathered.

[Angela Macy]

Are you saying that you're legally blind in one eye which prohibits you from getting a CDL, but you can have a regular drivers licenses????

[wsmracing]

There are two publications that you'll find very interesting........one is the road bible " federal motor carrier safety regulations " & woodalls campers guide........................i believe that woodalls has a list of every states leagal length requirements.....its been awhile since i have looked at it , but i think that with the rigs we as sportsman tow with today.......there might be 4 states that we are actually legal in....................................as the cars go faster...the tracks are the same length..........................as the rigs get bigger, the laws from the 50's & 60 "s havent changed alot......................either way.......its costly enough just to get to the race & pay your entrance fee's..............no need to contribute to every municipality along the way......any information that is available is much appreciated, but i'm registered to go to nc, & if this is the real deal...we're canceling our entry......

Thanks for all the info

wayne

[Lou SG2340]

Has any one heard any thing about a crack down on trailer lenghts at Piedmont last weekend

[Jeff Teuton]

Lou, I understand there were many tickets issued among other items. I think that is where this started.

[John Quinn]

Originally Posted by Ed OBrien

John
They add the GVW of the truck and trailer for total Wt. and that is what gets the ticket most of the time but they can weigh every wheel if necessary . Have a nice day

I went up to the Motor Carrier section of Colorado DMV and asked them. They are not used to race car/pickup questions as they are mostly concerned with commercial semi's and large trucks. They told me my F250 would be legal towing anything up to a 10,000 GVWR trailer.

Federal regs define race car haulers as full trailers, meaning the weight of the trailer and contents are fully supported by the trailer axles, not the trucks. Truck and trailer total weight are used to compute loads for semi trailers where the weight of the load in the trailer is partially supported by the trailer and partly by the truck axles.

Of course the Federal reg's were written with the big rigs in mind at a time when car haulers for the most part didn't exist and motor homes were not there yet either.
So it is really difficult to find the parts of the regulations that pertain to us. It probably would be a good idea to keep a bookmarked and highlighted copy of the regulations in your vehicle (assuming you are legal).

NHRA should be leading the fight to change the regulations so they are easier to understand and get a lot of the larger rigs made legal.

And thanks Ed, I did have a nice day.