I know about the DOT, as long as I need one, I'll get one as a for hire carrier and make a little coin. Truck GVWR is 16,500# according to pillar. GCWR I will mark as 26,000 so I wont need a CDL to drive it.

 

She looks awesome doc, nice work and congrats!
With a work truck like that, are you hiring?

 

Looks great Scott. Be careful with the posted weight rating as that is what the State Police will look at. At that weight you'll be required to stop at weigh stations even when empty. Check with your insurance carrier regarding the weight and "for hire" as they will get their cut as well. Sorry to **** in your cornflakes.....but we do live in The Peoples Socialist Jersey!

 

Maybe you can take care of his fleet of SuperDutys Darren

 

I know, I know. But if I don't DOT it, they bust my chops if I am over 130 miles from home. So, CT, PA, NY etc... I'm looking over my shoulder. We have received 3 tickets over the years. I was told by DOT our pickups, if registered commercial, must have a DOT, but they don't enforce that unless your hauling a big ole trailer with obvious cargo and your way out of state. So, for extra cost and trouble, I'll have to haul a few loads now and then to cover the cost.

 

They bust my *** for our utility bucket and trailer...just wanted to pass it on to you.

 

The dot stuff is a mess. There are regs that apply to us but all the manuals and compliance docs are written for big rigs. It is very hard to interpret the rules for light duty pickup and chassis cab drivers. Our business has two f250 trucks and we have dot numbers posted, we're supposed to keep log books but generally nobody really knows where to draw the line.

We keep current dot inspections and just go about our business. If stopped we just show our inspection sticker, dot number and say, "this is all we have been told to do, please help us by showing what else is required". Then they usually just let us go since we are just hauling tools. Transporting goods is another matter.

 

My understanding is you need a DOT number if the combined is over 10,000. So a half ton doesn't need one but a half ton with a trailer needs one. If you are over 26,000 and travel out of state then you need HUT and IFTA and all that related crap. Just had a guy haul a Freightliner (a light one around 10k) up here from NC with his F450 and new red rhino trailer. NC got him for $486 for not having IFTA.

I have my DOT number on my 2500 pickup because I tow a dump trailer. I haven't been stopped yet. I figure when I am they'll give me hell over the Maine plate on the trailer.

In your case if you tow a trailer you'll have to be registered 9500 or less otherwise you're SOL. If you wanted to tow a heavier trailer you may be able to register the truck lower but then you'll get a overweight ticket if they scale the truck and it's over registered weight.

 

In NJ here, you have to register your vehicle with the weight of your GCVW of your truck and any trailers (commercial) If not, NJSP can give you an overweight ticket. So, we register @ 25,000 and that covers vehicle and any trailers. Trailers here are registered as 0 weight. When I do DOT and MC I am going to use this as my GCVW. This allows me to not have CDL and keeps me under the GCVW of Fords max weight cap. I swear, I need a lawyer to weed through all this stuff....

 

Good luck with that.

 

Don't need luck, in Jersey 26,001 and above is CDL

 

Yes, combined GVWR.

 

Yes, truck tops out @ 16,500 plus my trailer @10k So, I cant load the truck to it's 30k limit with truck and trailer, but that's okay. I just have to keep it under 26k.

 

If your trucks GVWR is 16500 and your trailers GVWR is 10k your can go to 26,500 CGVW and stll won't need a CDL.

 

Hey...everybody needs some luck! Even Jersey folk...

LOL!

biz