im about to make a trip to California and wanted to know if any one has had trouble using a dual tandem trailer crossing state lines. with other state rules and regulations. if any one knows any of them the input would be appreciated.. the trailer dose have farm plates and i am going to pick up a truck that has farm plates for the farm back here in Texas i dont know it that makes any difference to how the rules apply..

thanks
michael

 

I think as long as its your truck and trailer, picking up something that you are not getting paid for (re. helping out a friend or its your item) you should be ok. Just don't be silly overloaded.

 

well im going to pick up my truck that broke down out there last summer.. its a dodge 1 ton dually and thats all that will be on the trailer on the way back to texas. on the way to California i will have an empty load

 

In Michigan the law is you must NOT travel any further than 150 miles from the farm when running a farm plate on a truck. In other words the purpose of the farm plated truck is to be used locally only. You might want to check with your state DMV that issued the plate before you leave.

 

Wow, I can't believe that someone hasn't told you that if you get caught they will throw you in jail and throw away the key. Just seems to be a typical response to a honest question about towing anything on here. Anyways, I don't know about the farm plate deal, I'm guessing that rattlerbob5.9 could be correct. What I know for sure is that to cross state lines with a combo vehicle you are supposed to have a health card, dot number, and truck and trailer inspected. Now, if it was me, I would just go for it like I aways do and rarely have any problem, but I also never surrender.(pull into scale) But thats just how I roll. Haha, always wanted to say that.

 

you'll be fine, I have farm tags (tx) on my truck and pull my 25' tandem dual trailer everywhere

in Tx if your tagged to with over 26,000#s gross weight you should have a class A whether you weigh that loaded or not, the farm tags do not exempt you

 

Yep, that's right. Probably because a lot of us spend a LOT of money to do things right. And some of you run by the skin of your teeth and brag about how you get away with it. And when some of you DO get caught, you whine about how unfair it is and they were out to get you.

Like I said...



As to the original question; I would check with all the states I'd be running thru if it were me. Altho everything is *supposed* to be fairly uniform from state to state, it isn't.

I'll be making a trip in the fall of this year from Michigan to New England with a truck that has a 33,000lb GVWR and a trailer that has an actual weight of 12,000lbs. We are a non-profit, so nothing we do is for compensation, but I'm sure there are a few states that do not recognize that or have special rules regarding the issue. Hours of service, for example, are no different if I'm hauling for profit, hauling my own stuff or operating a non-profit. I'll be calling and documenting when, who and what I will be told in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York well before I start the trip.

 

Farm plates are only good locally around your farm!?! Wanna run the highway pony up and pay registration like the rest of us.

 

I didn't mean to start a bashing fest against the original poster. It's entirely possible that some states allow out-of-state use of their farm plates, I don't know. I guess a lot would depend on the kind and amount of insurance required to get the farm plate in the first place.

I agree that some of these guys need to 'pony up', but let's not get carried away with the ones that ask legitimate questions. He may have every intention of getting his truck registered appropriately if the farm plate would be eliminated from out-of state use.

 

I found the attached hope it helps

Texas Administrative Code Next Rule>>

TITLE 37
PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS
PART 1
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
CHAPTER 15
DRIVER LICENSE RULES
SUBCHAPTER C
EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
RULE §15.54 Vehicle Inspection
________________________________________
The department inspects vehicles prior to road testing to determine if such vehicle meets the requirements of law and is safe to operate on a public street or highway.
(1) Registration of vehicles.
(A) Texas law does not require the license of the driver and the registration of the vehicle to be from the same state. Hence, residents of Texas may legally operate vehicles registered properly in other states; and nonresidents properly licensed in their home states may legally operate a Texas registered vehicle. Many states do require driver license and registration to be issued by the same state.
(B) Farm registered vehicles may be legally used for authorized farm and ranch purposes and family transportation to church, to school, to a doctor, or to obtain family necessities, but not for gainful employment. I also found this

Texas Commercial Driver License Information
All drivers who operate a commercial motor vehicle will be required to have a CDL. To determine the class of CDL, refer to section "Different Classes of CDL’s".
The law does provide provisions for some exemptions, using the CDL 2, Exemption form required. If the driver meets one or more of the criteria listed on the following page, he/she will not be required to have a CDL. However, the driver will be required to have a Class A, B, or C Non-CDL License.
Exemptions:
• A vehicle that is controlled and operated by a farmer; and used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery, or farm supplies to or from a farm; and not used in the operations of a common or contract motor carrier; and used within 150 air miles of the person’s farm.

 

EXCELLENT POST BIGFOOT

This varies state by state, in Tx my 01 1T 4X4 QC CTD DRW costs $70.00 to register as a farm vehicle and tagged as such, my wife's 04 1T crewcab Ford PS DRW costs $80 to register as a non-farm vehicle and tagged as such, my son's 09 3/4T CTD mega-cab costs $80 to register as a non-farm vehicle

you guys are responding under your state law where the liberals have you paying high property tax when you register your private vehicles and agricultural/farm vehicles are either exempt from personal property tax or taxed at a lower rate (Kansas where I used to reside was that way and it cost me $700 plus to register my 01' CTD)

Texas does not charge personal property tax on vehicles as a major source of revenue for the state and counties

the original post was a Texan wondering what he needed to do, as I posted and BIGFOOT documented he will be perfectly legal to go to Calif. to pick up a farm truck so long as he doesn't violate the weight rules

as I said I drive my truck all over the US pulling trailers and I'm perfectly legal as I'm either 1) hauling farm products 2) picking up farm products or 3) on farm business

generalizations regarding issues like this are usually wrong

 

Don't come to Az. and hope you don't get stopped in Ca. If your trailer is rated ( not regestered for ) 20,000 and your truck is rated for 8,000 , that is a combo of 28,000 and you need a CDL, health card, and log book weather you are commerical or personal. I used to keep my trucks and trailers regestered for the lowest GVW because of cost. After we started pulling commerical, I raised everthing to what I was pulling , W/CDL, Health Card, and log book. A friend of mine got stopped here with his triple axle trailer and his duelly. His trailer was regestered for for the least he could which is 6999 GVW and the duelly was reg. for 8000, under CDL. The highway patrol said that it did not matter what it was regestered for, the trailer was rated at 21,000 and the truck was rated at 10,500 , combo of 31,500. He told the officer that he was hauling for personal and only hauled light loads on the trailer. The highway patrol wrote him for No CDL, opertating a CDL combo with no health card, and no log book. Went to court,lost, cost him over 1,000 in fines and court cost. He was also running empty when he was stopped. The only good thing is he sold me the trailer for a good price.

 

a sure way to find out the answer is to stop at the port of entry in each state and get necessary permits if needed

 

Same here with regards to AZ. I was going to AZ from NM for a horse show. We were pulling a 4 horse CM trailer. We stopped at the check point and were given their blessings. They were chasing down people who hadn't stopped and really giving them a complete inspection........they fairly well just waved us through. They didn't like "rich" folks that were ignoring the check point, or so I was told by the inspector.

 

well thanks for all the input yall im leveing tonight im just going to go for it and play the dumb card if i get stoped and say i didnt know and im just trying to get the truck home and if i get a ticket i guess il man up and pay for it as i go. i dont ever plan on going back to CA there is better places lol i will let yall know how the trip goes when i get back. wish me luck!