i went to the dot today to get my endorsment i told them i wanted a chauffeur license they started asking me about number of pasengers i would be carrying and stuff like that so i told them what i plan on doing they sent me over to the highway patrol office and they told me as long as my combined weight ratting of truck and trailer is under 26001 that i just need my class d license even if im hauling for hire. they just said that it dosent matter how much weight i acualy have but if i have a trailer thats RATED for say 20,000 lbs even if its empty thats the weight they go by.

 

i guess my question is is this correct, it dosent sound right to me, but i made it very clear what i was wanting to do and that is what they told me. they said i just need to register my truck as a commercial vehicle.

it makes sense becouse we dont need cdl's for our cube trucks that we drive for work because they are rated under 26001 and they are registered as commerical vehicals

 

On the back of mine it states that if you are PULLING OVER 10k, then you need a class A cdl. I am going to take a pic and show it. I cant imagine another state having a different requirement for what constitues a commercial license

 

I florida Iwas told by a guy that I had to file or list my truck with a combined weight Tag,but when i got there to register trailer 32ft gooseneck 6500lbs trailer 20000GW they told me that since my truck didn't weigh over 7000lbs that I didn't have to claim GVCW, the other guy had a dually Dodge so he did, And for licence same in Florida class D lets me pull up to or drive to 26000lbs with out air brakes. Commercial or anything.

 

Regular Tennessee DL says..... Class D vehicles <26,000 LBS (Operator)
on the back.

 

so it sounds like a class d is all you need, i just figured there would be a differance if your doing it for hire rather than just driving it for personal use.

 

As quoted from the back of my COMMERCIAL CLASS A DRIVER LICENSE
CLASS A Any comb. of vehicles of GVWR of 26,001 lbs. or more; GVWR of towed veh(s) in excess of 10,000 lbs.

CLASS B Any singleveh. with GVWR of 26,001 lbs. or more, or towing a veh. not in excess of 10,000lbs. GVWR

Class c Any single veh. or comb. of vehs., not defined under CLASS Aor B, but is either designed to transport 16 or more pass. including driver, or is placarded for hazardous matl's. and any school bus that is less than 26,001 lbs. GVWR designed to transport less than 16 pass. including the driver.

Anyone holding a Class A, B, C, is authorized to operate a class D Vehcile.

I dont claim to know more than anyone else, but these are the laws. If you are FOR HIRE, that makes you a commercial driver. If your hauling OVER 10k GVWR, you are required to have a class a. If your for hire and all you do i s pull a single place car trailer, you must have cdl, and have a drviers fitness check for DOT, and carry that card with you at ALL times. Hope that this helps. And for the record, you may want to all in and check with a hotshot company in your area for your own local laws. There are plenty of them out there.

 

so i need a class a cld?

is there any litature that i can read to pass the test, i assume there is a written test.

 

Yep, you can get literature at your local dot/dmv station. There is a written test and a driving test. However, If its a regular class A test it needs to taken with a tractor-trailer.

 

Your gettin into the "grey area" of DOT and FMCSA when your talking hot shot stuff. Technically you do not need a CDL if your truck and trailer are rated less than 26001#. However the problem comes up when you try and insure your truck as a comercial vehicle with $10k cargo and $1mill liability, if they are going to cover you that far they want to know that you know what you are doing and hold a CDL. Of course ALL DOT laws are up to the oficer to translate. I have heard of guys gettin shut down for overlength because the truck had a box on it they considered it a straight truck and not a power unit making him over length with his 48' trailer.

 

that brings up another question how much insurance coverage are you required to have, in order to get a class a do i have to provide a tractor trailer for the driving test? that could be difficult. this is something im seriously looking at getting into im going to start out doing it in my spare time and then see how everything works out and then posibly go to doing it full time. i already travel alot for my current job and it looks like as long as you keep well planned out trips with back hauls even with current fuel prices you stand to make a seizable profit. i already have some loads lined up so i need to get the legality's figured out and in line in the next couple of weeks! i could probably still do it and hope i dont get nailed but i really don't want to go that route. now onto another question about declared weight, when i go to the dot and tell them i want to register my truck as a commercial vehicle do i just tell them i want to register it for a certain weight, should i just register it for 26000 lbs gross combined carry weight? i looked at an 38ft gooseneak dual axel with dualys the guy said its rated for 20k but that would put me into cdl weight. im looking for a trailer that can haul 2 cars at a time. right now i have a 20ft car hauler bumper pull rated for 7000. sorry if im rambling, also is it the weight of the truck plus the weight rating of the trailer, or is it the weight rating of the truck and the weight rating of the trailer

 

for some reason i dont think a local hotshot company is going to be too willing to help somone out with information when they are looking to go into bisness competing with them. the 10k trailer weight rating is decently going to be a hang up, it shouldn't affect me immediately but it will before very long. right now i have a large boat (28ft long by 9'10" wide) witch requires wide load permits (not too expensive the states ill be going threw with it are only between $15-$20 for single trip permits.) and its under 10,000 but im afraid i'm going to be a red flag going down the road with this thing. i don't want to pass a weight station and get pulled over without everything in order and i defently don't want to pull into a weight station without everything in order. the other things i have going are just a car and some other smaller items along the way on a trip that im taking.

how can i get in contact with an actual dot officer from my state. seems like all i can get ahold of is a highway patrol man or a secretary who knows nothing. the highway patrol officer said i was fine as long as im under 26001 and under trailer weight of 10000 and i register my truck as a commercial vehicle. as soon as i register my truck as commercial i have to stop at all weight stations if i stop at a weight station and i don't have my ducks in a row im f'ed. also if i go ahead and register my truck as commercial now when i purchase a larger trailer i assume i can go in there and tell them i want to change my declared weight? (this is not going to be right away)

i apologize for my rambling and random questions.

 

You are required by law to carry $10k in cargo and $1million in liability. As far as a tractor trailer set up it won't be that hard, I took mine with my 1ton and a 30' trailer with tandem 10k axles. The truck is rated at 10k and the trailer at 20k making my GCVW 30k and required a class A CDL. If you need a CDL for your rig then you can use it to take the test.

 

how much does your insurance bill normaly run?

aslo it seems like the most important things i need to do right away is get register my truck as commercial and get 10k cargo and 1million liability insurance and that will get me threw till i buy a bigger trailer and start hauling bigger loads, is this correct as my current loads i have lined up are less than 10k trailer weight. also it makes it alot easyer that i can use my own truck for the class a test. right now i have insurance threw progresive and am pretty happy with them, do they do commerical insurance? i suppose i need to call them and ask them.