Originally Posted by bigray
hummm, if it has not for hire on it, i believe DOT rules do not apply. I drive a 2000 Peterbilt for a living, and some times i take a vacation and go out to Sc, and drive the Pete and take my 32' bumper pull trailer, at that time i do not even stop at scale houses and drive more than 11 hours a day. and No log book. and never had a probum.. YET,, LOL. But i am not close to the max lenth. heck i would just drive it, and then ask for forgiveness,
Actually unless that truck is registerd as an RV it is still commercial even if it is pulling a camper. You may not have gotten stopped or go through weight stations but that doesn't mean it's ok. You just haven't been caught.
Saying DOT rules do not apply to "Not for hire" or any kind of vehicle is a really bad way of explaining an RV or towing laws.
DOT rules apply to ANYTHING on the road including a car. a 1/2 truck going down the highway with mom, dad and the kids in it or a motorcycle.
WHICH DOT laws is the thing. EVER vehicle has DOT rules it must comply with.
The confusion is a lot of people think commercial laws apply to a big RV / toterhome with a car hauler type of trailer and they do not to a point.
You can still get a ticket for over length or overweight etc. Most states don't bother with any type of rv / toterhome / pickup hauling an enclosed trailer however. some will and do. A lot a big toterhomes simply want go race in Fl. because they will get a ticket for being over 65' long. NC DOT works ( or at least use to )on the 3rd Saturday of the month and does pull over pickups hauling enclosed trailer or big boats that "appear to be overloading the truck". I tried for several years to convince a good friend of mine that he was overloaded with his 1 ton dually with 2 trucks in his 40' enclosed trailer. He told me he was " Not for Hire" so DOT laws did not apply to him. I tried and tried and tried to explain it to him. Needless to say one Saturday a DOT officer in NC on I 77 pulled him over and weighed his truck and trailer. He was over weight on the front axle of the trailer and the rear axle of his truck. He told the office he had " NOT FOR HIRE" on his trailer and the office told him exactly what I told him. That's means nothing as far weight, length etc. When he got his $800 ticket he told me he was going to court to fight it. Long story short he did and it was a waste of his time. He paid $800.
Not being a smart ass but CDL stands for
Commercial Drivers License.
You can have a 3/4 ton pickup pulling a 24' enclosed trailer with lawn mowers (to make $ as a business) that only weighs 10,000 lbs, but that is considered a commercial vehicle. You would not have to have a CDL, but you do have to have a DOT physical to drive it and it all starts from there.
Bottom line is it's all about money and you paying some additional taxes and fees to the DOT.
I do this for a living and have spent several hours with DOT officers on the do's and dont's of anything that applies to big RV's, big (up to 53') LQ's trailers and even towing more than 26,000 lbs and not having a CDL. When you make $ at the race track that can open a can of worms or if you have sponsors / big decals for advertising. That's another topic for another day.