Just on RV Business, the state of Texas will start requiring a safety inspection on all trailers over 4,500 GW this year with notification arriving with the annual registration notice.

Steve

 

I'm not against periodic safety inspections, although, as with most things relating to government, the devil is in the details.

 

I agree. There was additional commentary noting Texas went to this because they were finding so many violations, which is not so great either. There are always folks looking for short cuts!

 

Interesting. Maryland requires a one time inspection at date of purchase. Same as for cars/trucks.


Wonder how detailed it will be?

 

Article I read didn't have any detail so it is hard to tell if it is really a safety issue or simply another source of revenue hiding behind a manufactured safety concern. Hard not to be cynical of of anything political now a days.

Steve

 

I would be more concerned if these violations were actually leading to accidents. Do they have any real support that this is happening?

 

See my preceding post.

The safety issue is hard to track done. With "safety cameras" here for example, one police department credited a 50% decrease in fatalities to the cameras after they were installed. The change was a drop in fatalities from 2 down to 1, huh?

 

PA has required inspections for years on trailers over 3,001. Making it mandatory is one thing, getting people to comply is another. PA they basically verify that the brakes and breakaway work, tires and brakes are over 2/32, and that there are no structural issues with it. It's just a hassle to deal with, most places won't touch goosenecks, 5ths, or any over 10k. The RV dealers rake people over the coals on charges to do it also. One local dealer is $75 for a tandem, one is $53, and the local truck shop is $30, but they don't look at much more than lights. I've had trailers that required inspections for the past 10 years. Think I've had them inspected for 3 of those ten...................But I also look over my stuff and make sure everything works, know what kind of shape my brakes and tires are in.

 

I understand New Hampshire instituted this a few years ago. We have no inspections here for anything, and the number of idiots you see with missing lights (usually from hitting snow banks due to bald tires), missing body panels, etc. make me think that we might need inspections. I can't believe the number of trailers out here without working lights. So you get what is going on in TX, government stepping in to force people to take care of things that intelligent folks would do on their own.

 

Man, if they can legislate intelligence I'm all for it, but then I thought for a minute about who does legislating (that is when they decide to do something to earn their keep) and I have to pause -

 

These trailer inspections have actually been required for many, many years in Texas. What has changed is that in order to purchase your annual registration, you have to now have an inspection on file that has been performed in the past 90 days. Prior to this there really wasn't any enforcement of the inspection requirement unless a LEO just happened to notice a lapsed inspection, which was pretty much never.

It is a simple inspection. They check brake lights, turn signals, and running lights, and some will check to see if your breakaway switch is operational. It costs a whopping $15 so the cost isn't significant. The biggest issue is the inconvenience of getting your trailer to an inspection station.

 

NY has had a yearly trailer inspection for years - all trailers. While it's a whopping $6, the inconvenience of hooking up and dragging it to the local garage is a PITA since all they actually look at are the lights and make sure the tires aren't worn to the wear bars. It's so loose that you can reregister yearly without proving that the trailer has been inspected. My local guy sometimes will just say six bucks and hand me the sticker as he can't be bothered (plus ours wont even fit in his yard so he has to walk over to the nearby mall). As far as being safe, ours always has good lights, tires and brakes as it would cost too much to replace the rig.

 

Exactly, went through it Friday. Had no idea where to go so I went to the place that normally does my vehicles. Took 5 minutes. Probably not in the spirit of the law, but it is what it is. Now I can get the registration. Honestly, some the the things I see dragging down the road, I'm actually glad to see this.

BTW, it started this month.

 

Coincides with the change in vehicle inspection. Used to be 2 window stickers (registration, inspection). Now a single sticker (registration) that you can't get without the safety inspection being "in the system".

 

I lived in Texas for a dozen years and left in 92... It was my experience that most of the inspection stations were run by profit hungry rip-off artists that would fail your vehicle even though it was functioning fine and within parameters..

Parking brake being called Emergency Brake was the big one... If the car or truck would not slide the back tires from a 20 MPH roll, it failed.. Of course if you got a brake job there, it would pass just fine. A host of BS reasons why it failed would be used. Point in fact ,they are not meant to STOP your vehicle once moving, but meant to keep the from rolling on their own when they are already stopped...

Front end alignments were the next in line..

I'd hate to see these same Rubes get hold of my trailer... Grrrrr.....