CA form 4008

work2much wrote:


The only things I will be using the truck for is a TC and later a 5th wheel rv trailer.

I keep hearing the RV's are exempt. Is this just common knowledge or is there anything in writing I could hang my hat on in court? The form you linked is what I have received from the dealer. It makes no mention of RV use.

Obviously this is not something DMV or CHP advertise willingly.
It is your business to save money not theirs.
That beside the legal language they made up to make it hard to understand. I do have CDL for commercial trailer towing, but not for semi-truck driving. The endorsement was written in language the DOT officer could not make sense of.
I forgot the term DMV uses for non-commercial truck registration, but I drove to the office and told the inspector I want the combo registered as RV and he figured it out.
Funny part, later on I called DMV hotline asking about towing trailers and the answer was that I can pull commercial trailer with pickup registered as an RV as long as the camper is on it.
With 5th wheel I heard the requirement is that the trailer mount has to be on the bed all the time and no "wheelbarrows".
Can't tell you what it would take to have non-commercial truck registration for travel trailer, but DMV has hotline, that will call you back 1 hr or so later, making it quite convenient to call them and not to spend 1hr on hold.
Bare in mind that the laws are so complex and complicated that even if you ask the question DOT officers, each one might have different interpretation.
I spend time to pull to one of DOT weight station that had "no pickups" sign and ask the officer in the office about pickup definition.
Took him about 15 minutes of digging in fat books to find me the 13.xxx lb explanation.
Try that trick with any CHP officer ;)

work2much, I really think you have a lot of misinformation. Consider making an appointment with the Placerville Office of the DMV. I have always found them exceptionally helpful and knowledgeable.

Wayne

OK. Found this.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/f93f514b-ffa6-46cd-9da7-939ef851e288/ch13_comml_vehs.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Doesn't look like any exemptions for RV's. Declaring for the TC will add $322 to the almost $900 yearly reg fee. When we gat a 5th wheel it will be an additional $546. Crazy over a hundred dollars a month to register a truck in CA.

The linked doc again stresses that weight stickers need to be affixed to the side of the truck which I refuse to do. Since the truck is being used for personal use and not a business I am guessing I can't even write off these fees that a business would be able to.

What a bunch of BS

work2much wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
CA weight fee.
15k lb cost you $332
go to 30 k lb and it is $586
All RV are exempt from all commercial DL and fees requirements.
My 16 tons conversion cost me in CA about $160 registration and I drove it with amateur DL.
Suppose lately CA made air brakes endorsement, but I never bother to update.

The only things I will be using the truck for is a TC and later a 5th wheel rv trailer.

I keep hearing the RV's are exempt. Is this just common knowledge or is there anything in writing I could hang my hat on in court? The form you linked is what I have received from the dealer. It makes no mention of RV use.

I think the exempt is referring to driver's licenses and not weight fees.

Reddog1 wrote:
If you have commercial plates on your truck it is not likely you would be pulled over with cargo. If you had non commercial plates on your truck and had cargo in the back you probably would be cited. The numbers and letters are arranged very differently. I am referring to California.

Years ago my dad had truck with a camper shell on the back. The truck had non commercial plates. He used the truck with camper shell for his work tools. He loaned the truck to a friend. The friend took the shell off, and had a wheel borrow in the back. He was stopped by a policeman and given a citation for using a non commercial vehicle for commercial use.

On occasion you will see a CHP pickup on the road. He is the one most likely to check your weight status. I have had that experience.

My last truck had vanity plates which would not read as commercial. Never been stopped for anything in the last 25 years.

Kayteg1 wrote:

work2much wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
but don't get cough with cargo on your truck.

I have been driving P/U's in CA since 1994. I have never been pulled over and checked for anything while carrying cargo. Would a regular old beat or highway cop stop people with a pickup to check their reg weight status?

Does this happen?

I've got pulled over in year 2008, when I had small tractor/loader on the back of my F450 flatbed.
That is how I learned the law enforcing the hard way.
Turn out my 1999 truck was originally registered at 9000 lb its own weight. The GVW on door sticker was 15k.
I had to go to DVM to change the registration and that alone cost me $400 in additional annual fee.
Law enforcing changed quite a bit in last 10 years. Common explanation is that the "to help and protect" guys - have been send on the roads to "seek revenue" and the 350 trucks turn out the easy money. So much law violations accumulated over the years, that you could have 90+ percent chance that pulled over truck would generate some income.
It will be DOT cop doing the stop. They drive pickups and carry portable scales in them.
Same with cargo trailers. Ask me how many have I seen demobilized at scales for non-working break-away brakes.
Coming to comparing CA fees, I just moved to Vegas and even sale tax is 1.5 percent lower than in CA, I am paying more for energy than I did in CA, still not using AC this time of the year.
Food at Mexican markets is cheaper, but SF Bay Area is famous for high food pricing.
LA and San Diego have it cheap as well.

I meant specifically towing or hauling an RV.

Kayteg1 wrote:
CA weight fee.
15k lb cost you $332
go to 30 k lb and it is $586
All RV are exempt from all commercial DL and fees requirements.
My 16 tons conversion cost me in CA about $160 registration and I drove it with amateur DL.
Suppose lately CA made air brakes endorsement, but I never bother to update.

The only things I will be using the truck for is a TC and later a 5th wheel rv trailer.

I keep hearing the RV's are exempt. Is this just common knowledge or is there anything in writing I could hang my hat on in court? The form you linked is what I have received from the dealer. It makes no mention of RV use.

CA weight fee.
15k lb cost you $332
go to 30 k lb and it is $586
All RV are exempt from all commercial DL and fees requirements.
My 16 tons conversion cost me in CA about $160 registration and I drove it with amateur DL.
Suppose lately CA made air brakes endorsement, but I never bother to update.

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I was paying those weight on my 2015 F350 Dually but the DMV in Bishop told me that if I pull nothing but my 5th wheel rv then I was exempt from those fees; but if I hook up to any other type trailer then I am in violation. Truck mounted campers are also excluded.

I don't know anything about fees and how they are calculated, but the rules you are describing are exactly the rules for not requiring a non-commercial class A license for 5th wheels less than about 15K lbs. Perhaps the clerk was confusing the rules for driving licenses and the fee rules.

A non-commercial class A license is required for 5th wheels whose GVWR is above about 15K and trailers above 10K.

work2much wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
but don't get cough with cargo on your truck.

I have been driving P/U's in CA since 1994. I have never been pulled over and checked for anything while carrying cargo. Would a regular old beat or highway cop stop people with a pickup to check their reg weight status?

Does this happen?

I've got pulled over in year 2008, when I had small tractor/loader on the back of my F450 flatbed.
That is how I learned the law enforcing the hard way.
Turn out my 1999 truck was originally registered at 9000 lb its own weight. The GVW on door sticker was 15k.
I had to go to DVM to change the registration and that alone cost me $400 in additional annual fee.
Law enforcing changed quite a bit in last 10 years. Common explanation is that the "to help and protect" guys - have been send on the roads to "seek revenue" and the 350 trucks turn out the easy money. So much law violations accumulated over the years, that you could have 90+ percent chance that pulled over truck would generate some income.
It will be DOT cop doing the stop. They drive pickups and carry portable scales in them.
Same with cargo trailers. Ask me how many have I seen demobilized at scales for non-working break-away brakes.
Coming to comparing CA fees, I just moved to Vegas and even sale tax is 1.5 percent lower than in CA, I am paying more for energy than I did in CA, still not using AC this time of the year.
Food at Mexican markets is cheaper, but SF Bay Area is famous for high food pricing.
LA and San Diego have it cheap as well.