Private drivers are at the whim of the police. These weights ARE in fact enforceable.

The only time I’ve seen it enforced in Indiana was a State Police friend who ticketed and impounded a dangerously overloaded 1/2 beater truck - this was an extreme, and scales weren’t necessary to send your spidey senses into alarm. I’ve also heard of Canadian police being aggressive on RVers, and I know of a story of outright harassment from Illinois cops, who mostly are scumbags anyway.

I’ll leave it this way- the GVWR *is* enforceable, it applies to all vehicles, not just commercial, and the fact that most cops are busy with other concerns doesn’t mean your luck won’t run out.

 

Not one payload sticker and yet three pages.

While the number on the payload sticker is not enforceable itself, it is there as a guideline to stay at or under in order to not exceed the GVWR on the manufacturers build sticker. Some people live in a smaller world than others. Drove CDL A cross country and through Canada with my own trucks as well as others. In the U.S. not every state allows for registration weights that differ from the manufacturers white build sticker on the door jamb. If you are registered private or commercial at the manufacturers GVWR the payload sticker is very useful.

Oh, and yes I have been witness to D.O.T. escorting private vehicles through the scale for a weight check. Operating overweight of your registration falls under driving to endanger and can be enforced commercial or private. Officers for the majority perform their duty at their discretion, but get the one who does it by the book and there's a lot you didn't know can legally be enforced. Ive witnessed many of disgruntled drivers at the scales with really poor attitudes using the good old "well ive never heard of that before" or "Ive been doing it for years" argument while the officer is being polite and offering them the D.O.T. literature so they can see for themselves what the laws are.

 

Any chance you guys could start your own thread called "My opinion of payload stickers"?

 

I get your point and I would normally stay out of discussions regarding the weight police. But my response was to correct misinformation in one post, specifically;
"There are jurisdictions where police will whip out scales and write tickets for exceeding that yellow sticker."
The poster of that comment subsequently used examples and references to tickets written against the GVWR. That value is listed on the white sticker and is different from the payload value on the yellow sticker. It is not opinion that the yellow sticker payload value is not used for enforcement. Of course, if someone has firsthand knowledge that a ticket was written stating the truck exceeded the 3120 pound payload (for example) on the yellow sticker, then I will stand corrected.

 

I love the Weight Police threads with the "experts" opinions in them.

The truth is this.

For 1/2 ton trucks, the payload stickers are there for owners so they can use them as a guideline for trailering. Law enforcement does not care about that sticker, they only care about the one on your license plate.

3/4 and up, the payload is a guideline, majority of users use the truck for towing, and those that don't usually have the bed replaced with a cargo box. The registration on the bumper is what law enforcement cares about, don't exceed it. If you register the truck, regardless of Business or Private, for 10,000 pounds and are found weighing OVER 10,000 pounds, they nail you on being over REGISTERED weight. It is as simple as that. Register at 12,000 pounds, exceed that, Nailed for over registered weight EXCEPT when towing an RV, unless commercially as when delivering one. Example, my F-450 is registered at 12,000 pounds. It weighs 9800 with me. I can put 2 tons in the bed and be within weights of the truck, but I would be well over 12,000 pounds, and not Legal. I put 1 ton in, and remain under 12,000 and perfectly legal. I hook up to my 5th wheel RV, the trucks registered weight becomes Exempt since the trailer is properly registered as over 10,000 pounds, truck can exceed 12,000 pounds and still remain Legal.

Federally, they look at GVWR of truck and trailer for CDL classifications. This is where the manufacturers sticker comes into play, not the payload sticker. Regardless of registered weight, or actual weight, Federally its what the max weight the vehicle or combination can weigh that determines what license the driver requires. State police follow Federal Guidelines in Truck enforcement, if you are hauling a load that pays money, do not have DOT numbers, or the vehicle or combination exceeds 26,001 and you do not have a CDL, well, you are screwed. Drive an F-350 DRW with a 13K flatbed, and haul something that earns money, you need a Class A CDL. The stickers on the truck and trailer add up to 27,000 pounds.

In ALL cases, the tires and wheels are the main factor, exceed them and your busted. Those are the only true numbers LEO look at regardless if it is an F-150 or an F-550

These are all facts that can be easily verified.

Civil court lawyers LOVE both the GVWR and Payload stickers as exceeding it proves negligence on the drivers part, easy win in civil matters.



However, in the spirit of the thread, Where are all the 2023 trucks? No one has one yet? Its March 18th!!!

 

Jesus Christ in a chicken basket, you are splitting hairs like a damned child trying to win an argument.

Well good for you, Skippy. In the fantasy world where cops are morons who don’t know how what the GVWR of a given vehicle is, or can’t read the other door stickers because they aren’t yellow, they probably won’t be able to perform the magic algebra to determine that Cletus in his F250 at 12k on the scales is overweight.

Go fetch yourself a cookie and take a victory lap, right after taking a 1/2 pound of Ex Lax to help with being so **** retentive.

My point absolutely remains - your GVWR matters, we know how the yellow payload sticker is calculated, most cops are not drooling morons who lose focus at the sight of a donut, they will ticket or even impound you if you’re overloaded, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a commercial driver or the Johnsons from Valparaiso dragging a Winnebago down to Florida for the Winter.

Drive safely, y’all. And I guess celebrate the little wins when your life fails to give you any that actually matter. 👍

 

LOL I missed that post you replied to. Guess what, that yellow sticker is GVWR minus Curb weight. So if one exceeds GVWR they EXCEEDED THE PAYLOAD STICKER!!! Oh man, my belly hurts from laughing at that!!!

 

The problem is lot's of people come on here and discuss how much their truck can hold, or even try to determine which truck to purchase, based on the yellow sticker.

Spreading misinformation is never good.

Stop the nonsense.

 

Not a tangent I’m genuinely trying to understand gvwr and the rules regarding it.

so the 10000lb gvwr on my truck doesn’t mean anything and I can exceed it without any troubles?

i just always thought I had to stay within:
truck gvwr
trailer gvwr
and the total gross combined weight of the total setup

 

I don’t think it’s misinformation as much as willful ignorance.

 

The GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is set by engineers who design the vehicle, and it represents the maximum weight on your truck. PERIOD.

Once your truck is built, it has a mass based upon all of the options you included, which is subtracted from your GVWR. This is your max payload, and it’s what’s found on the yellow door sticker.

That payload will be decreased by:

• You
• Your Passengers
• Your tools
• Your truck upgrades
• Your dogs
• Your luggage
• Your beer run
• The McDonalds trash on the floorboard
• Your hitch ball, fifth wheel, chains etc.
• The hitch weight applied to your vehicle when connected.
  

That last bullet item bites people. They see they can tow 15k lbs, and buy a 12k fifth wheel. However, their 2300lb pin weight might leave them with little more than a few hundred pounds of payload for their own butts in a 3/4 ton truck, depending on how configured.

The GCWR, or Gross COMBINED Weight Rating, is the weight of your truck, the trailer it is towing, and all of the crap in both chassis. Every vehicle will have a number here, and as I understand it there is a max of 26k GCWR for non-commercial licensed drivers. I don’t know the specifics on this, that weight is well above my plans.

In all likelihood, you could safely exceed your GVWR by a small amount due to the fudge-factor/cushion that Ford’s engineers lawyers cut from the tested weights. However, if you have an accident and are found to have exceeded this weight, your insurance may balk, and you may be found at fault regardless of any other actual facts.

I hope this helps!

 

Mmm beer run.

 

which is how I understood the basics. And that’s why I’m confused by Ridgeway saying payload sticker doesn’t matter. Because it seems like it does when it comes to how much pin weight and other weight I can put in a truck bed.

I also understand payload gets affected by truck accessories etc……anything that adds or takes away weight would alter it.

So right off the bat the yellow sticker won’t be exact but once again, isn’t it still somewhat of a gauge to the limits of a truck?

regardless of the axle and tire ratings it seems like it’s gonna reach the gvwr (available payload) too soon.

 

I'll give you two examples of scale tickets.
The first is a GN horse trailer. Weighs around 13,000 lbs depending on what horses and gear I have in the trailer.
It gives me a Total GCWR of 23,160 lbs
But I'm over my rear axle rating 7,080 vs 7,000 lbs

Second is a bumper pull 20' Deck over with hay on it.
GCWR is 26740 but, I'm still in line with my axle weights of 6160 I've over my GCWR but I'm under the axle rating and the truck rating.
Point is. You have to consider all the ratings. People say I can tow my 5ver because it's only 13,000 lbs and my truck is rated to tow 15,000 lbs and yet they over load an F250 axle

 

It's very simple,

Your payload is your registered GVWR minus your empty weight. Your empty weight changes all the time and as such so does your payload.

You cannot exceed your REGISTERED GVWR

You cannot exceed your tire ratings.

You cannot exceed your axle ratings.

Furthermore,

You CAN increase your REGISTERED GVWR

You CAN increase your tire ratings.

Those 2 things will increase your payload.

As long as your vehicle and load don't exceed your REGISTERED GVWR, your tire ratings or axle ratings, you are legal.

This is for private use. Not talking about combined rating or commercial use or CDL or any of that, just simple DOT scale weights.