John what is gw then? I was under the impression that gw on the title is the max weight you are allowed to have on the roads (i.e how much you are paying for). If thats not it what is gw?

Id be nervous registered 500 pounds over my empty weight!

 

I dunno, in NY I would register my highboy at 7500 lbs, AND be afraid to weigh more than that if I was weighed. Weighing more than the GVWR on the registration is a BAD THING here.

Of course, that's for commercial registrations.

Passenger-plate registrations, like I have now, just show unladen weight. As a passenger (non-commercial) vehicle, I don't think I can be fined for being over the GVWR. but anything's possible.

 

Registering at 7500 keeps you from having to get truck plates. If you look at your Virginia registration, the bottom line has the EW, GW, and the GVWR. The GVWR is the manufacturer's rated weight. The GW is the weight you register it for and the empty weight is supposed to be the empty weight. According to the DMV and VSP, if you are stopped and weighed (which is highly unlikely), they have to go by the weight stamped on your door plate.

Essentially, the "GW" on your registration can be 7500 as long as the GVWR on it is the same as what is on the door plate. Look at your registration when you get a chance Anomic and you should see what I'm talking about.

When it comes to commercial vehicle registrations, Virginia is a lot more lax than other states. Unless you're running a US DOT number on your truck or you're somehow obviously commercial, you don't stand much chance of getting stopped and / or checked.

 

@Kewat - thanks for sharing - I am going to cook up something similar.
Also appreciate the earlier insight into likelihood of being stopped running w/o the topper. As Powerstroke72 just mentioned, its good to know what ups your chances of getting stopped. While I wouldnt be running with business markings on the truck, a trooper that is a truck fan would know a SD is over the limit for passenger plates w/o mods.

Anyone know if operating out of class is a violation leading to points in NYS? Just curious.

 

Ok jon, i still dont understand why the gw is there if its only an option to pay higher taxes but not req?

Im on the road 50-60 hours a week and the only pickups i see getting weighed/safety inspected are those that are hualing a trailer with A bobcat or tractor on it. There was a fatality with a bobcat bouncing off a trailer locally and they are **** about it. I see landscapers cruise by the mobil vsp weigh stop obviously overloaded and they let them by, they seem to be after dumptrucks mostly

 

Not a problem, it works great for me, and I can get the thing off without any help which is a major plus. And I can store the lawn mower under it so it doesn't get rained on

As for getting stopped, yeah, when I have the cap/topper off, I avoid the parkways. That's the only place the NYS troopers patrol, and if anyone would know I am over 5500lbs unladen, they would.

 

It's never made much sense to me either. But, the GVWR on the door plate as well as the axle weights are what they will go by if you're stopped. The last person I talked to about this at the DMV basically told me that some people don't want the "truck" tags. In order to get anything that's not a truck tag, you have to de-rate your vehicle on the registration BUT they still have to go by the door plate.

As to the VSP and CVO / WVO stopping and weighing trucks goes, to be honest, it's about a 50/50 mix of safety concern and revenue generation. The weight thing has more to do with road damage / repair than anything else. A fried of mine working the coalfields stopped a tandem axle dump truck the other day that weighed over 100k. They didn't know how much over because the scales pegged out at 99,999. These trucks routinely cross bridges over there that are rated for safe weights of 24 tons. Doesn't take long to damage and/or destroy roads and bridges that way.

 

How does your state work with putting cones around the vehicle? Here if you have cones out marking your vehicle you can park your vehicle where you need it without getting tickets, it is kinda cheating but I drive by a company truck parked in front of the guys house where they need permits to park and he always has cones around it so he doesn't have to buy permits for his work truck.

 

Parking really isn't an issue unless it's around the major metro areas like Fairfax, Alexandria, Richmond, etc. In those areas, the cities each have their own laws regarding parking. In the rural areas (where I am), unless a vehicle is abandoned or poses a traffic hazard, it's not towed or ticketed. Now if it's parked on public right-of-way and has expired license tags, inspection decals, or town municipal decals, it will get ticketed and possibly towed depending upon the circumstances, regardless of cones or anything else the driver places around it.

 

Not sure about other states, but here in NC we register the weight of the truck and what the combined weight will be. Meaning, if you will be towing a trailer, you must add its weight to that of the loaded truck. I have 20k lb rated tag right now, but will be bumping it up to 23000 soon. I transferred it from my 02 f250 i just sold, and haven't had the chance to change it yet. It costs me $311 for a 20k lb tag each year. The tags are classified as "private/commercial." They are technically commercial tags, but don't require any extra inspection. Just a regular old safety inspection for 13 bucks. I've had three Superduty trucks, and each has had at least 20k lb tags. Boats, and campers are exempt from the weight registration requirements.

There are to my knowledge no rules about being parked on side of roads. Only thing I can think may be similar is some high end communities will not allow "work trucks" like vans with graphics, box trucks, utility body vehicles, etc parked outside. this is not a state law, but a homeowner association thing.

I have seen on occasion, the Highway Patrol with a stopped truck/trailer combo getting weighed. This is, as mentioned above, partly for safety, but the revenue from fines is substantial. The states are all hurting for revenue right now, and are enforcing the letter of the law now more than ever.

 

My truck weighs 6900ish.
Just paid $83.00 for registration renewal.
No restrictions on where I can drive or park.
Sounds like a few states have far too many bureaucrats making obscure rules so they can justify their jobs and paychecks.
God bless Texas.
JL

 

You have to pay bureaucrats for having nice weather in California.
My registration bill just come in. The 30,000 lb sticker alone cost $586
Total registration $700

 

Here is ct we have passanger plates, combination plates, and commercial plates. Nearly all pickups run combination plates though passenger plates can be run but you must still pay combination fees and you must be under 8500 gvwr. The combination plates is a good idea, as its split passenger and commercial so to speak. You can do what ever the heck you want with your truck. No one runs commercial on any private vehicles. We register by gvwr here and for my 8600gvwr f250 its $212.00 for two years at the max of 8600. It could be cheaper but from what i'm seeing here it's not bad but, not like the southern states where trucks are kings. We also can't go on parkways if greater than 7500. But i didn't even know they existed in ct. I'd say its not a bad system here and removes the ambiguity.

 

Amen. Thankfully Kansas is the same way - mine's tagged as a farm truck so a bit cheaper and even less hassle w/ hauling. All those rules in other places would drive me nuts. Guess living in the sticks has other benefits besides not having to put up w/ people!

 

I am reading this and chuckling, when I went to register my F450 at the MVD out here in AZ last year, I was told that it would be over 300 bucks a year to register the correct weight. I told the Lady, who happened to be at the commercial desk, that I wanted to register it in name, she came back and said ok, it's 89 bucks. I was like huh? She registered it for 8000 pounds. i was like um no it needs to be higher like 13,000 at least she said nope it is based off the empty weight. Who am I to argue with the Lady When i got the registration renewal this year they gave me the option of registering it for 2 or 5 years. I took the 2 year option as I didn't have the extra 60 bucks it would have cost at that time. Yes it was only 120 for 2 years, and would have been around 200 total for 5 yrs. I guess since it is registered as a personal vehicle and is titled as a cab and chassie it falls in some grey area. It does have a commercial plate, but since its a personal vehicle they don't care. I do know that she is close to 14Klbs as she sits.
Interesting side note, when this truck was in Calif as a PG&E truck it was registered for over 35K lbs