Wadcutter wrote:
[snip]
JIMNLIN wrote:
your rated weight [GCVWR] which is your data plate lists as your ratings, what your axles are rated for, what your tires/wheels are rated for...and dot loves to look at all of this
your "tagged" weight which is what you have declared your ratings to be for tagging.
Don't confuse registered weight with axle and gross weights. 2 competely separate things and one is not related to the other. The only thing in common between the 2 is the word "weight" but neither law is related to the other. It's confusing for those not familar with the law. When they hear/read the word "weight" they don't understand the difference between registered weight limits and axle/gross weight limits. The OP was inquirying about axle/gross limits.
I've explained registered weights ad nauseum in the past too. Registered weight limits are really nothing more than a tax. In fact if you look at your state statute for registration fees it's likely that particular statute is titled something like "registration tax fees". You pay a certain amount of tax, ie registration fee, to haul a certain amount of weight. For example, if you want to haul 8000 lbs in your pickup then you pay the tax (registration fee) for 8000 lbs. But if you then haul 11,000 lbs in your pickup you would be subject to fine for overweight on registration, ie, didn't pay enough tax to haul 11,000. We use to do force registration in IL where if someone as described in the example was stopped then we could force the driver to purchase higher registration plates right there before he was allowed to move further. The increased registration cost was in addition to the fine. Now we just write the citation and if there's a record of additional such violations, particularly if company owned, then inspections can be done on the company and force increased registration.
if you read the post on the web I mentioned I left off the s [typo- the web I produced explaines it better] from plates meaning plates from the truck and trailer which gives us our combined max we haul at. Registered weight is tied to the trucks plate only if the truck has a uprate GVWR from the state its registered in. That combined weight is limited to legal allowable weight on the different axles ratings on the truck/trailer combined. DOT checks each of my axle max rates per the trucks plates and they also checked my trailers GVWR or the axle itself, which ever is lower.
My state has a uprate 15000 max GVWR for vehicles 3/4 ton and up. We also may add a indorsment for a higher GVWR for non commercial use [its free]. Uprating our trucks registered GVWR has more to do with a larger combined weight [truck and trailer] than just how much we can haul in the bed but we still are limited to vehicle axle capacities per both vehicle plates. None of the 12 different state I've towed with commercial plates in used "axle manufactors ratings" which is the big buzz that started this topic again.
Talked with a shift captian from "L" troop OHP on non commercial weights under 26000 lb. His comments on enforement of non commercial vehicles was RVs are at the bottom. They only stop them if they look grossly overloaded. His comment on what vehicle weights they use for enforcement for our non commercial trucks was in his words mirrowed the same weight regs as dot uses.
To all the interested parties; we have some very good webs that experienced commercial, and non commercial, hauler hang out on and much can be learned from those folks that use these trucks 24/7 to make a living using the same trucks we tow RVs with. See
towrigs.com or
uship.com or
hotshothauling.com and check out the forums.
JIM
