attn: Weight Police

LarryJM wrote:
You seem to be mixing up GCWR with GVWR and while GCWR is more of a performance/warranty issue the GVWR is IMO MUCH MORE than just a manufacturer's recommendation. It is IMO an actual federally specified "SAFETY" number certified by that FMVSS GVWR sticker on the driver's side door jam. While there might be no law specfically written for GVWR violations a case could be made that one is operating a vehicle in an unsafe condition if they are exceeding the GVWR as listed on that door jam sticker. The main area where the GVWR plays a crucial role is in the brake testing and certification for that vehicle to meet federally mandated safety standards for passenger cars and LDTs.

Larry

Larry, please provide some documentation that shows I am mistaken. I am not talking about tow ratings, which would be GCVWR... I am talking strictly about how much weight a motor vehicle can carry of it self. FMVSS sets minimum standards for safe operation of a vehicle. These aren't the types of things that are checked on the side of the road... certainly not on a vehicle that is registered less than 10,000 lbs.

Let me give you my example about braking. To meet the FMVSS standard 105 for braking, a vehicle registered to 10,000 lbs or less is tested at its UNLOADED weight plus 400 lbs. So my Tundra weighs something like 5500 lbs (estimate) empty. That means it would weigh around 6000 lbs for this test. That is still WAY under the GVWR of 7200 lbs and WAY under my theoretical registered weight of 9,999 lbs. The Tundra will easily pass that braking test at a weight of 6000 lbs. I won't get into the minutia of the test, you can google it yourself. Modern vehicles are way more advanced than the old vehicles used to develop these tests. Bottom line, I pass this test easily and am "legal" after paying a higher registration fee.

I am a police officer. I am NOT a commercial truck inspector, but my old partner is. I have talked to her about it, because the commercial laws can be very confusing. 10,000 lbs vs 10,001 lbs vs 26,000 lbs and 26,001... I could never keep track of them all.

But the bottom line, if my vehicle is registered (I paid the department of motor vehicles the appropriate fee) for the weight, then I cannot be issued any criminal/traffic citations for that weight.