ok, here goes my 2 cents worth. the d.o.t. laws are federal, so they are nation wide. doesn't matter what state. if your trailer is rated to haul 10,001 lbs or over, you're required to have a cdl. class A for a combination vehicle, B for a straight truck. But, ..... if you are a private entity and not for hire, you dont gotta register with the feds. if you are a business, try getting agricultural plates, then its farm eqipment, and you dont gotta get a cdl.

 

Ok someone help me out here. On the back of my DL it says "May operate single vehicles less than 26,001 lbs GVWR. May tow trailer less than 10,001 lbs GVWR." Then on the second line below it says "May tow trailer over 10,001 lbs GVWR provided the GCWR is less than 26,001 lbs." I understand the first part, but the second line seems to go against the first part. If yall could explain it for me that would be great. Also is there any difference in what you can tow if it is an rv compared to a cargo trailer? Keep in mind all towing I do is private for myself.

 

Your trailer can weigh 16,000 pounds if your truck weighs 10,000 pounds or less.

And I had Timbrens once..... Once.

I like the Firestone bags better.

 

Thank you. Thats what I though, but the way it is written confused me. Thanks.

 

FARM plates (or agricultural as you call them) are only good for use on the roads in the state they are issued by. There ARE some minor exceptions to what I just said, but for the most part, you are only able to use your equipment with farm plates in your state.

It used to be that Texas and New Mexico had some kind of agreement with one another about use of a vehicle and/or trailer recripocially in both states, but I do not think that agreement exists any more.

Some states have a limited mile extension agreement allowing some mileage into the other bordering state, I do not know which states have those agreements or if they even exist any more, that used to be the way things were, but now with all the new DOT laws it may have all changed.



CD

 

gcwr= gross combined weight rating, gvwr=gross vehicle weight rating.
the thing with d.o.t laws that really sucks is that they change every year, and are very open to interpretation by the officer you're dealing with. Ie: if he got some last night... etc. BUt if it's a private rig,in good shape, and you don't draw the attention of the d.o.t specific cops, you'll be fine.And you don't have to pull into the scales you see on the highway. Those are for commercial vehicles only. I've been driving truck for 12 years, and I've had a dozen different cops tell me a dozen different things. Just stay recreational,and you'll be just fine.

 

you'll most likely be ok. we loaded our forklift onto our 12k trailer after we used it at the job site(about 25 miles each way), i ran it across the scales. and to my horror it weighed in at 15,500!!!!!

needless to stay that was way over the hitch limit and we did not use weight dist bars. i do have airbags though.

so moral of the story, dodge hitches are built strong enough for idiots like us to tow way over weight things without breaking.......

i however do NOT recommend doing this!!!!!!

 

I tow a 14K rated trailer loaded to a light 9500 lb with about 1150 lb of tongue weight. With the weight distribution installed the rear of the truck drops about an inch, without the bars maybe 2 inches. I upgraded the hitch to the Putnam when they were on clearance, but the stock hitch worked fine. This pic was with the WD bars installed.