DOT & State Nuances of a 4500-5500?.

I periodically see these vehicles with "Private Vehicle" or "Not for Hire" displayed.
I assume this is to avoid confusion.

declariation

When you buy a pick-up you should probably have input on this and not leave it in the hands of your salesman or dealership. Note that while signage at weigh stations state "no pick-ups" the registered weight and also any bed modifications (flat bed, utility bodies etc) indicates you've lost that loving feeling of a pick-up.

when I was running my Dually pickup towing a generic white box trailer up and down the east coast as I moved myself I ran magnetic decals on the lower doors that said "not for hire"

CA, NV, etc. Like a different country. Other than Fed laws most back East have never heard of your nonsense. I have never seen a PU pull into the scales. My own company trucks, most f350s operated in Wv, PA, MD, VA, DC, and NJ and never had a DOT number or bothered with the scales. Under 26,001lbs and no state law about company name on trucks.

My truck is registered for 30K and I do have small decals on the lower door panels. You are also required to shift the rear (Ca in my case) license plate with your yearly registration sticker to the front bumper. Most of the weigh stations have cameras facing downstream to catch trucks that bypass. I am required to drive into weigh stations and I don't transport anything commercial related, just my wife and truck camper.

"I used to live in CA and pickups are routinely registered as commercial..."

Still not used to parking in "loading" zones with my California "commercial" Silverado 1500...so I don't.

jimh425 wrote:
If you do commercial hauling, you need a DOT number. Otherwise, no.

Only if you cross Stateline doing commercial hauling and it is not weigh-related. You should have DOT number on station wagon if you use it commercially across Stateline.
Laws vary a lot from state to state.
I used to live in CA and pickups are routinely registered as commercial and require GCVW declaration regardless if used privately or commercially. DOT scales require checks on all commercially registered vehicles, although the law wasn't enforced for smaller pickups and vans.
But with camper on F350, I went to CA DMV for inspection and got "RV" registration. The registration had strange description that I could never memorize.
Now I live in NV, where pickup is pickup and it can't be changed. No weight fees thought.
Oregon has smog checks? Maybe I will have no longer headaches in the state, driving behind locals?
RV are exempt from lot of laws in most of the states, so make sure you ask right question.
Lot of people, especially European citizens can't get how you can drive 40 tons DP setups on amateurs DL.
In most of Europe anything above 3.5 tons require CDL
BTW. I've seen it quite a few times, when "Maid Service" was hauling 3 workers in the sedan and crossing Stateline.
To my understanding the law requires DOT number for such use, but who is to enforce it?

There are no USDOT or State nuances for personal use vehicles under 26k gvw anywhere that I’m aware of.
If towing as well with a med duty vehicle or any combo over 26k gcvw, some states I believe have some drivers licensing requirements. But whatever applies in your home state is good x country. That is my interpretation anyway, but I’m less familiar with personal use requirements and more with commercial use requirements.

If you do commercial hauling, you need a DOT number. Otherwise, no.