Crossing the line: When do you need a CDL?

[Tim H.]

Whats involved with a class A. Oh and the dog and boy will be on their own in a year or so. They are allmost grown. At one time before all this CDL crap came out I had a class A license but when I renewed they said that it was no longer valid and I would need a CDL and tests all over again. Came to find out later all I needed at the time was just another written test so the state of Texas had lied to me. I wasnt aware of anything but a CDL afterwards and just dropped it to a class C and motorcycle endorsement. Now a class A is back? Whats this all about, whats involved and why.

[DieselJake]

Hi, all. Just my $.02 here re CDL's. According to federal DOT regs, a CDL is not required for any vehicle titled as camper/motorhome, regardless of GVW, as long as it not operated for hire or carrying more than 16 people.

Local law enforcement may not know this, and I have gotten out of a lot of jambs by just showing the officer the law in the DOT Handbook, (+/- $5.00) at most truck stops. Hope this helps.

[leemaurice]

Can anyone tell me if there are states that do not allow trucks with 16,000# axles. We recently bought a toterhome that the front end weight is over 16,500 #'s. We are considering putting on a higher weight axle, but have been told that some states won't allow. The truck as it is, can't be put on the road and actually could be dangerous.It is registered as a personal RV, we are planning to use it commercially. Also, the dealer that sold us the toterhome/46' trailer, we wonder if they can legally they can sell an illegel and unsafe unit to the public? The purchase is less than 2 weeks old and we are unsure where we stand on this.

[HotRodKW]

That is the correct statement (NON COMMERCIAL CLASS A) in a lot of states now using large trucks for RV Towing. Not all states are as anal like California in checking and or in pushing enforcement, but would assume its heading your way soon like everything else started here!
We were chased down by the Califonia Highway Patrol the other weekend for blowing past a Commercial checkpoint. Officer was challenging the fact that the truck is titled as an RV, we run a full blown three axle stretch frame with a commercial 5th wheel, had it changed out of state and then re-registered in back in CA in the good days.
He did state that changes were in the works to mandate any and all vehicles over 10,000 GVWR in any form of usage from ANY state will be required to pull through the scales by 2010 in CA, and face the same DOT inspections as a commecial as all other 10k+ rigs go through now, excluding pickups. Anyway, he got me with a ticket for improper registration classification and now it's off the the DMV for someone to inspect it I guess. Worked for a while anyway.

[Wick]

"
Posted April 22, 2008 08:20 PM Hide Post
Can anyone tell me if there are states that do not allow trucks with 16,000# axles. We recently bought a toterhome that the front end weight is over 16,500 #'s. We are considering putting on a higher weight axle, but have been told that some states won't allow. The truck as it is, can't be put on the road and actually could be dangerous.It is registered as a personal RV, we are planning to use it commercially. Also, the dealer that sold us the toterhome/46' trailer, we wonder if they can legally they can sell an illegel and unsafe unit to the public? The purchase is less than 2 weeks old and we are unsure where we stand on this."

I would think that the seller would be responcible. I think that when Optima built some of the first units that they did for Microsoft, they had a problem very similar and had to tow the units back to the factory and re-work them to get the steer axle weight back to legal limits. I would think 16,000 is dangerous and not needed. not sure how a toter can get that much up front unless fifth wheel is to far ahead of rear axle.
My show Hauler loaded with everything is at 12,000. I run better than average tires on steer.

Wick

[geofkaye]

.....aaaahhh!...the reason for keeping the duals and tandems!....20,000# is the max bridge weight per axle no matter what....my tractor is just a little over 10k loaded to the max-not even close to the 12K for the front axle.....geofkaye