Actual federal weight law rules, some questions and answers

Mike Up wrote:
While the public at large is protected from commercial overweight trucks, looks like none commercial or recreational vehicles can cause harm to anyone on the public roadways from overload conditions without any legal protections for the public.

How about this? 24 states require all registrants of commercial vehicles to obtain Federal DOT numbers. In some states, pick-up trucks are issued "Commercial" license plates. New York state is one of those states. The minute you register a pick-up in NYS for 10,000 lbs or more gross weight, they want you to apply for a Federal DOT Number. The minute you register with the FMCSA and put a DOT number on your pick-up, you fall under their regulations. If you do not have the DOT number and are ticketed for it you have to appear before the judge and prove that you are not required to have a DOT number. The following is from: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration-licensing/registration-USDOT.htm

"Some States Require USDOT Numbers
In select states (see green highlighted states or list below), all registrants of commercial motor vehicles, even intrastate and non-Motor Carrier registrants, are required to obtain a USDOT Number as a necessary condition for commercial vehicle registration.

(On their page there is a map showing the states that require this)

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming."