Wadcutter wrote:
transamz9 wrote:
Wadcutter wrote:
n7bsn wrote:
A few years back a retired LEO from the mid-west posted he had once stopped someone using a pickup to pull three trailers!
3 trailers is an illegal combination in a lot of state, IL included.
The weirdest combination I ever stopped was about 10 yrs ago. A Class A pulling a box trailer which had a ball hitch on the back. To the box trailer he had connected a Dodge Dakota pickup which had a tow bar on the front. To the Dakota he had hitched a boat. 4 units in tow. He had crossed into IL just south of St Louis on I-255. By the time I had stopped him he had traveled over 100 miles into IL. He complained that if he was illegal he should have been stopped 100 miles sooner. He got tickets for illegal combination and overlength. Had I written him everything that was wrong I could probably still be writing.
Hey Wadcutter, When you stopped this guy, can you remember what caught your attention? Was it an unsafe looking rig, going to fast, doing something stupid (besides having a load hooked like that) or just on patrols? I'm just curious.
I was heading southbound on the interstate and saw him going northbound. My first thought was "that pickup and boat is riding that Class A's butt." Then when they got even with me I could see they were all connected. Such a combination sticks out.
Me Again wrote:
So do you think the Anderson hitch which connects via a ball in place on the king pin is a "fifth-wheel type assembly" per the code above? Would an Anderson hitch require safety chains in your state? Chris
I'm not familiar with an Anderson hitch. The definition of a 5th wheel assembly is in the IL statutes:
(625 ILCS 5/1-120.5)
Sec. 1-120.5. Fifth wheel assembly. A coupling device connecting 2 or more vehicles operating in combination. The lower half of a fifth wheel assembly mounted on a truck tractor or converter dolly must be secured to the frame of that vehicle with properly designed brackets, mounting plates, or angles and properly tightened bolts of adequate size and grade or devices that provide equivalent security. The installation shall not cause cracking, warping, or deformation of the frame. The installation shall include a device for positively preventing the lower half of the fifth wheel assembly from shifting on the frame to which it is attached.
The upper half of a fifth wheel assembly must be fastened to the motor vehicle with at least the same security required for the installation of the lower half on a truck tractor or converter dolly.
Every fifth wheel assembly shall have a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism and any adapter used in conjunction with it must prevent separation of the upper and lower halves of the fifth wheel assembly unless a positive manual release is activated. The release may be located so that the driver can operate it from the cab. If a motor vehicle has a fifth wheel assembly designed and constructed to be readily separable, the fifth wheel assembly locking devices shall apply automatically on coupling.
The lower half of a fifth wheel assembly shall be located so that, regardless of the condition of loading, the relationship between the kingpin and the rear axle or axles of the towing motor vehicle will properly distribute the gross weight of both the towed and towing vehicles on the axles of those vehicles, will not unduly interfere with the steering, braking, and other maneuvering of the towing vehicle, and will not otherwise contribute to unsafe operation of the vehicles comprising the combination. The upper half of a fifth wheel assembly shall be located so that the weight of the vehicles is properly distributed on their axles and the combination of vehicles will operate safely during normal operation.
(Source: P.A. 90-89, eff. 1-1-98.)
Under a strict reading of that statute, I'd say that the Anderson hitch does NOT qualify as a fifth wheel, since it specifically says "kingpin", which the Anderson does not have. In AZ, if that statute were in effect, you'd have to use safety chains and you couldn't double-tow because you'd have ball hitch/ball hitch, which isn't allowed here. Also, there are several of the less expensive FW hitches that don't automatically lock; I'm thinking the slide bar type. They specifically aren't legal under that statute, IMO. Also, you've got to get nailed by a LEO that actually knows what these things are... :-)
Lyle
