Pulling a large trailer and not having a CDL

[civicmindedex79]

Going to pick up a 40' gooseneck trailer 21k GVWR and have a one ton truck, so I will be well over the 26k allowed on my license. I live in Mississippi just for the info. What's everyone doing that is hauling these redneck camper haulers for recreational only? Honestly not really worried to much, only trouble I have had in the past was when I was driving way to fast and got caught. BUT I would like to be prepared due to all the sue happy sorry mf'ers these days if there was a wreck.

My plans is to do the "not for hire" stickers on trailer and get a weighted tag for my pickup. I wanted to get a legal tag for my pick up but have been told anything over a b-10 requires to have atleast a class D cdl. Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[Big David]

Throw the camper on it & have it reclassified as a 40 foot RV. As far as I'm aware there is no restrictions on any RV.
I'd go down & talk to someone at my local tag office.

 

[civicmindedex79]

Throw the camper on it & have it reclassified as a 40 foot RV. As far as I'm aware there is no restrictions on any RV.
I'd go down & talk to someone at my local tag office.

These folks are NOT helpful here. I am trying to read about it now.

 

[Sawzall]

Not sure about Mississippi but a TN Trooper Sargent told me that I could daily drive an 18 wheeler if I wanted without a CDL as long as I was not using it commercially to make money. I got that answer when I asked if I needed a CDL for a F750 with air brakes.

 

[civicmindedex79]

Not sure about Mississippi but a TN Trooper Sargent told me that I could daily drive an 18 wheeler if I wanted without a CDL as long as I was not using it commercially to make money. I got that answer when I asked if I needed a CDL for a F750 with air brakes.

This was my understanding until I got pulled over in Alabama coming home from AOP and the trooper decided to be "generous" and let me drive away instead of making me disconnect from the trailer until a CDL driver arrived. Honestly my biggest worry is having a wreck and "Mr Shanurah" suing me AGAIN protecting his piece of **** crackhead client. Yes I said again because it's already happened once.

 

[sexxy]

I live in north ms near corinth. I agree with the idea of getting everything tagged as rv. I know of another person that did this to a box truck with sleeper cab. Think the box was near 24ft so it was big, and over 26k unloaded.

 

[xjtony]

I live in MS, and you can get B16 or higher tags. They just come from Jackson not your local county. I always had B16 tags on my old superduty. But the 26k lb deal all depends on how the dot man feels that day. But if you are truly recreational and not trying to skate by moving equipment or something then you should be fine. It only comes into play when the dot man sees you many times doing the same thing to where they can tell you are making money at it...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[civicmindedex79]

Thanks for the comments from MS folks. I for sure understand the hauling but this is for recreational use.

For the B-16 tags you don't have to have a CDL then? It would make me feel a lot better from a legal standpoint to have a rated tag at the very least.

 

[clutchee]

Living in Texas, wife and I have asked this many times.
Our race trailer we use is tagged as RV but is 53'.....

Our thought is we gonna pled ignorance but since it's a RV and we are hauling our buggy then it's just being used for fun.

Truly think that it's up to whom pulls you over and what kinda day they are having.

 

[civicmindedex79]

It's not so much an RV vs trailer thing. More like personal use vs business. This is why grandpa can jump in a 48ft deisel pusher and roam the country if he wants despite the fact that he can't see or hear **** and has the reaction time of a dead cat.

Your post before and this is exactly why I would rather reclassify it. Trailer is a triple axle and you are absolutely correct it attracts attention and an easy spot for MR DOT.

 

[civicmindedex79]

Reclassification isn't neccessary if you're under your trucks GCVW.
Reclassification won't fix the problem if you're over the GCVW. Over is illegal no matter what.

Look up what you're GCVW is in the manual, then fill you're truck up and pack it with all the gear you would normally carry, then get the truck weighed. If GCVW minus truck weight equals less than 21K then that trailer will be an illegal combination no matter what you do.

Hmm I will have to think on this and re-read the post above. Maybe I am not understanding the GCVW thing.

 

[money_pit_yj]

You're not for commerce. If you win money at a race, you're for commerce. Just rock out and drive, they shouldn't mess with you. I've pulled all kinds of stupid loads of seed and chemicals on a 32' gooseneck in a truck with no stickers all over North MS and never had an issue.

 

[civicmindedex79]

You're not for commerce. If you win money at a race, you're for commerce. Just rock out and drive, they shouldn't mess with you. I've pulled all kinds of stupid loads of seed and chemicals on a 32' gooseneck in a truck with no stickers all over North MS and never had an issue.

Once again I am not as worried about DOT as I am a piece of **** suing my after an accident. I may be worried about nothing but after my last experience I will admit it bothers me obviously.

 

[xjtony]

I believe the B-16 and up is commercial now. So I was told a year or two ago that the dmv tightened up on it and you had to show actual need for that class of a tag. I believe they did this because of revenue loss to the counties as the B-16/20 etc tags come from Jackson not the local county office. I only got B-16 tags on my f250 because they were cheaper than residential tags in my county. Sounds crazy but they were.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[civicmindedex79]

Reclassification isn't neccessary if you're under your trucks GCVW.
Reclassification won't fix the problem if you're over the GCVW. Over is illegal no matter what.

Look up what you're GCVW is in the manual, then fill you're truck up and pack it with all the gear you would normally carry, then get the truck weighed. If GCVW minus truck weight equals less than 21K then that trailer will be an illegal combination no matter what you do.

If you're truck is a newer 1 ton dually then there's a chance you may be ok.
If its a newer 1 ton srw I highly doubt you'll be ok.
If its an older dually or srw then you're probably screwed.

Maybe I sound like a dumbass but trying to understand the GCVW (which I thought I understood). Appears my truck has a GCVW of 16k. Curb weight not loaded obviously is 6500 lbs.

EDIT: I was always under the impression GCVW was the "possible" weight that could be hauled. Truck and trailer. So if the GVWR of truck is 12k and trailer is 21k then GCVW would be 33k and a standard license is only good for 26k. That is where I thought the reclassifying to RV took the weight thing out of the equation a lil bit.

 

[civicmindedex79]

I believe the B-16 and up is commercial now. So I was told a year or two ago that the dmv tightened up on it and you had to show actual need for that class of a tag. I believe they did this because of revenue loss to the counties as the B-16/20 etc tags come from Jackson not the local county office. I only got B-16 tags on my f250 because they were cheaper than residential tags in my county. Sounds crazy but they were.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This makes sense with me being told had to have a CDL to run anything besides a B-10.

 

[civicmindedex79]

That seems too low. I could see that as being max goosneck trailer rating allowed. What yr make model of truck? Standard cab, double, long or short bed, diesel...... might be able to find the ballpark with that info.

That was a quick google search not at home to check manual.

2004 Chevy 3500 LT duramax truck. Crew Cab long bed. Dually truck

 

[creepycrawly]

Friend has the same truck. Same friend that got busted with a 21k. His dually has a GCVW of 25, 800lb and with a truck that weighs just north of 10k loaded with gear he can tag and haul a 14k trailer, but no more.

Again, not saying you won't get away with it but if you ever cross paths with a smokey that knows better or worse yet, get into an accident that introduces lawyers just itching to find a reason to make you liable then you are risking it.

Example. You haul a 21k trailer with your truck and someone hits you and causes an accident/claim. If insurance finds out then their attorneys will argue that you were operating an illegal combo, therefore you should have never been on the road in the first place and at best you will share liability. Thats $$$. You can argue all ya want about (DMV let me tag it), but it won't matter. The responsibility of the law is on you and claiming ignorance is a losing argument in court.

Looks like you're stuck with a max 14k gooseneck.

I had no idea this was the way that worked. I thought you actually had to be over weight to be illegal. It blows my mind that throwing an empty triple axle trailer behind a half ton truck just to move the trailer yields an illegal setup. Now I need to go back and check my GCVW on my truck because I downgraded to a half ton from diesel trucks but kept my 10k trailer.

I realize I'll never get put on the scales and checked, but I don't like the idea of being sued either.

 

[civicmindedex79]

I appreciate all the info. In the end I will hook to it and drag it until somebody sued me for enough so can't afford to pull it. I am highly betting as long as the camper is mounted maybe the man will leave me alone. Maybe the fact it's a POS camper and old ugly truck on a nice trailer will help.

All seriousness I do appreciate the advice.

 

[1TONTJ]

My dually and 38' enclosed trailer puts me over the weight limit as well. From what I've read and been told, I don't need a special license because the trailer is actually an RV (titled that way and has living quarters) and it's just for recreational use.

There's an awful lot of gigantic horse trailers and duallys running up and down the road and I doubt they all have CDLs.