One other point that I saw a few years ago while looking up the MD motor vehicle laws is that unless you look VERY carefully that in most cases the law is aimed at COMMERCIAL vehicles only. Maryland has very FEW MV laws pertaining to recreational vehicles. I fact in a lot of cases it says that RV's are exempt. Actually, the MD Motor Vehicle laws are horribly written.

 

I'm in Johnson City... Hello Neighbor!!

 

After many phone calls to many departments of the state police and the MVA, think I know the answer...
- The camper length of 40' in the MD motor carrier handbook is bogus.
- The total rig length is 65'. I'm still concerned about the 2-week old court document stating 60'. I think I'll be under 60' anyway, so I'm not concerned.
- BAD NEWS HERE: In Maryland, you need a non-commercial class A license if your combined GVWR is over 26,000 lbs. The real bad news is how they measure this. They simply add the GVWR of the truck and the GVWR of the trailer. When I let the officer in the commercial vehicle enforcement section know that I was surprised that they counted the pin weight twice (it is in the GVWR of the truck and trailer), he got angry and said that is how they read the law. This means that every one towing a moderate size fifth wheel with a newer dually needs a class A, and anyone towing a larger one with a F350 (save those with a 10K GVWR) also need one.

It is a hassle to get one. There is a significant road and parking lot test (backing up between cones with the rig and what not) to get one. You also cannot take the test unless you bring a rig is over 26K, so you have to buy a rig you cannot drive and get someone with a class A to bring it to the MVA.

I really try to follow the law, but am not sure I'm going to care about this interpretation. My truck will weigh 9000 lbs with passengers and my camper will weigh 15000 lbs (or so), with a combined weight of 24000. (My sticker sum will be closer to 27K.) Maybe my sticker on my camper will get damaged where it says GVWR. The law says if trailer isn't tagged, they weigh it.

 

You know, this sounds like the kind of thing that, if by chance you did get tagged, would not take much to get a judge to bounce the ticket. That may be the way they interpret the law, but that doesn't mean that is what the law says.

I suspect the person you spoke with got upset as cover of his lack of knowledge.

My two cents,

Steve

 

Been doing this for years here in MD. I am technically at just over 29K with both GVW's.


But on the scales more like 24-25K most of the time.


Go across the scales, get the certified wt ticket and put it in the glove box.


That's all folks.

 

Great idea, thanks.

 

This sounds like the best way to deal with the issue to me. My bumper pull TT measures 41' from the hitch to rear bumper (the Hensley Arrow does add about a foot of that) and I bought it in NJ where the max combo length is 60'. I don't know what truck there is that could handle it's 11k GVWR and be under 19' . With my EX hitched up it's an inch shy of 61'.

 

The problem with asking an officer about towing laws is that every officer has a little different opinion on how to read them in my experience. One will tell you that you're perfectly legal and the next one will spend an hour telling you how you're not.... Incredibly confusing to figure out and If you're near the legal limits when you do find them on paper have them in your truck and highlighted for what's related to your rig to (very politely) show an officer if they were to actually pull you over and check it.
I have spent over an hour with an officer before with a farm related trailer very politely arguing that I was legal, after he pulled out his book and did a lot of reading he finally grudgingly agreed. I didn't get away completely unscathed though he gave me a ticket for a dead LED marker light that turned back on when I taped it while he was watching.

 

Hopefully I will be OK with a weigh slip, although that doesn't prove the weight the on the day I'm checked. The issue is the flawed thinking on how to determine "combined vehicle weight." Combining truck and trailer GVWR counts the pin weight twice. In my case, that is 3000 lbs.

For those who care, the issue is with article 16-803.g " 'gross combination weight rating' means: (1) The value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination or articulated vehicle." The meaning of this isn't clear to me or the police I have asked.

The GCWR is in the owners manual, but not on the door tag that the police care about. The easy answer for them is to just add the GVWR tags on the truck and trailer. I wish the code would be more clear. I suppose using the GCWR isn't right either though. If that were the standard, all dualys would require a class A if they were towing anything as their GCWR is over 26000 lbs. It's over by 7 tons for a new F450

 

I just reread my Iowa DOT truck information guide handbook again and maybe I'm overthinking and confusing what it said but I think the class A license is only required for a truck with a GVRW of 26,000 or... I think towing a combined load over 26,000.

 

The last time I got stopped by the Iowa highway patrol they didn't care at all what my Gross combined weight rating was they only looked at the GVRW (mostly interested in the rear axle weight rating) on my truck and and my trailer weight ratings and if I hadn't been obviously under that for weight I think he would've gotten his scales out and if he hadn't I would've requested it.
I was pulling a 35 foot GN flatbed behind my Dads 00 F250 FYI.

 

Correct, DOT is concerned about your license class based upon axle weights/tires and GCVRW or GVRW.

 

The DOT is the foundation for extablishing national guidelines, particularly for commercial applications.

States establish many other components, such as max height, width, trailer length, motorhome length, combined length, triple towing, trailer wt for brakes req'd, etc.
Also additional driving laws such as lane restrictions.

I know CA recently changed the max trailer length from 40' to 45'.
CA also uses over 10k with a bumper pull and over 15k on a 5th wheel to determine when a class A license is required, commercial or non commercial, as well as the 26k commercial max for a class B.
I show that MD still has a max of 40' trailers and 55' max combined. Funny that they allow triples...as long as they don't exceed 55'. Pretty short trailers then.

To the others points, probably never become an issue unless in an accident. The next big question...what would your insurance cover if you weren't within your states legal max.

For many, another thing to also consider when driving is state reciprocity. Only 3 states don't offer that when traveling in their states, including CO. I also think AR and another southeastern state don't accept home state reg's.

 

Not true and rules very by state.

 

The longest 5th wheel trailer made is only 34 feet from the pin to the rear bumper. A 44' is only 43' long on the body. Even a beast like mine is only 20 foot long, and with the 5th wheel hitched it is a combined 50' tow length. Most state are 70 foot although some are 55 foot and some have different regs for commercial and RV.