Well today i learned something new. the DOT and the county police have been pulling over trucks with trailers all week long doing inspections on them. So today i was at lunch and ran into a county deputy that ive known for a couple years, and we started talking about all this stuff that has been happening around the city i work in, it turns out that if you have a trailer that has a GVW of 10k or more and you have a radar detector in the vehicle, even if it is unhooked it is a $1500 fine. he said that the DOT passed this law about two years ago.

anyways i thought you guys should know about this so you dont get slapped with a fat fine if you ever get pulled over by the DOT, or a police man that knows about this law.

 

whats the radar detector got to do with gvw and pulling a trailer? lol

 

well say you have a 30ft dual tandem gooseneck. and you have a large tractor on it. and for the examples sake the speed limit is 55mph, but because you have your trusty radar detector you can go 65mph without getting caught. but oh no the person in front of you suddenly slams on the breaks because he/she was gonna miss there turn, and then BAMMM your screwed cause you just demolished the car infront of you, and your own truck because the weight of the trailer/tractor slammed through the back of your truck, possibly killing you.

lol there is my example for you as to why the police dont want radar detectors in vehicles hauling heavy loads. it lessons the temptation to speed and be unsafe.

 

if your pulling a trailer with a heavy load u shoudn't be following that close! I do agree with u though.

 

Sounds like a they made themselves a cash cow and now they are milking it.

 

i got nailed last year, no ticket but he said it could have been costly. he said that if the combine gvw of the trailer and truck are over 10,000 you must have d.o.t. #'s.which require you to pull in to weigh/inspection stops. he said they are free, but i am not sure if insurence/registration would go up.

 

DOT #'s are free. The DOT got all weird with #'s after 9/11. Sucks if you ask me, but I know that tow trucks are exempt from weight stations. Not important, but I learned it today.

 

i don't know about the dot numbers but i do know that if the combined gvw 10000 + you need a cdl or a class A. having a radar dectector in a "CMV" is illegal

 

how you get dot numbers?

 

The state DOT is getting crazy around here, pulling guys over hauling tractors around & such. Are the DOT numbers only for commercial drivers? First I've heard of this. Have 24K tags on my truck.

 

mark i believe that the DOT numbers are only for commercial drivers, but the trailer does need to have a state inspection which can be done by the same person that does your truck inspections.

 

What i notice is it,s a state to state thing. I bought my TT in NJ. didn't need inspection sticker over there, at of all places. I bring my TT home to PA. and find out i need a sticker here. Don't know for sure but heard that TT, 5,ers pop ups are excluded from weight station because they are recreational vehicles not hauling interstate goods. I drive big trucks and got a 31 ft. TT and been down south and around and nobody bothered me. And yes, DOT stickers for anything over 26,000. EEE.

 

Technically if you are not for hire then you do not need a CDL no matter what size vehicle. And 26,000 lbs is the magic number for DOT. look at your license and classes.

 

I see you're in IL...

According to the IL Secretary of State, you don't need a CDL A unless your truck and trailer combination is 26,001lbs or greater.

Illinois License Classification



As for who needs a CDL:
Who needs a CDL License?

 

i have a cdl so it doesn't affect me but i know some one you got stopped and got a ticket i think not sure for driving his pickup with 12,000lb plates and a gooseneck trailer with 20,000lb plate so it was 32,000lbs he his getting a cdl next month