2020 Ford F600

Rocknxj wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
"Personal use" from what I was checking in the past was giving like 900 annual miles.
Still not a big deal on 2000 truck, where pulling plug on differential sensor freeze the odometer ;)

From what I read that mileage limit applied to what is considered stationary use, like pumps, very limited movement farm and construction equipment. But, whatever works. Such a dumb rule...only in CA.

How does mileage accumulate from stationary use?

If I use a pump to pump sea water in San Diego, shut it off, put the pump in the back of my truck haul it up northern most city in California, take the pump out of my truck and start pumping sea water in Crescent City... are you suggesting that the 848 miles that the pump traveled in the back of my truck means that if I haul the pump another 52 miles, I will no longer lawfully be able to use the pump that year?

Where does everyone read this stuff?

Just applying some very simple common sense can help sort out the internet lore from the law. Or simply go to the state website and read the law. Nothing quoted above is the law.

First off, pumps, generators, air compressors, construction equipment, tractors, back hoes, graders, skip loaders, etc etc are not regulated by mileage. That much should be common sense. This type of equipment is also not regulated under the TRUCRS rules that determine whether or not they can be "registered" by the DMV, because the DMV doesn't annually register a farm tractor or a Bobcat. Ever see license plates on a bulldozer?

This type of equipment is regulated under a program called DOORS, which has its own registration system (the white letters against a red background that began appearing 10 years ago on equipment having diesel engines that is not used for on road transportation). Since the equipment is not used for transportation on the roads, it is called off road (the O and the R in DOORS). I won't get into the requirements for DOORS, as that is beyond the scope of RV'ing.


Second of all, there is no mileage limitation under the personal, non commercial, non governmental, recreational use exemption. If your rig qualifies under that exemption, you can drive it a million miles a year, in tight circles around the CARB headquarters in Sacramento if you like, and it will be legal.

Thirdly, there is no such thing as a 900 mile limitation. Where do these numbers come from? Are people just making stuff up? I would encourage anyone who thinks that they may be effected by these regulations to simply go to the website of the government entity doing the regulating, and get the word straight from the horses mouth.

The LOW USE exemption mileage restriction for non emissions compliant diesel trucks between 14K GVWR up to 26K GVWR that otherwise have a scheduled mandate to be repowered with a 2010 or newer engine, or retired, per the scheduled mandate is 1,000 miles in state, and up to 5,000 miles total, where 4,000 miles must have been out of state.

There is no law that states that these 1,000 miles must be for personal or professional use. One can drive those 1,000 miles in circles around the CARB office, for all the CARB cares, but one cannot exceed that 1,000 miles in state within the year for which the exemption was applied. The exemption must be applied for every year, by reporting the vehicle for which the exemption is claimed via the TRUCRS reporting system, where the owner must certify under penalties of perjury the actual in state mileage.

Since 2015, the state has been implementing a network whereby all databases related to vehicles are relational. An expansion of Big Brother, so to speak. So any accident, traffic citation, insurance claim, roadside inspection, scale inspection, annual PSIP inspection... all those mileage reports are compared automatically via the data sharing network that the state has constructed to enforce emissions regulations.

The Low Use exemption is designed for commercial operations that may have a specially equipped truck that may only be used a few times a year to do a specialized job, where the cost to replace the truck with a new one for such little use is unjustified. It was a compromise to keep folks in business, while cleaning up the air in California.

It was not designed as a mechanism for RV'ers to keep their old tow rigs. Old tow rigs are exempted from the regulations by virtue of their being dedicated RVs, or by virtue of falling under the statutory definition of Pick Up truck.

There are several more myths in this thread, but that's all the time I have to address.