Survey - who has had a citation for RV overweight?

cbshoestring wrote:
HANDCUFFED for being overweight?

I have been fined, slide the axles, moved on (no it was not WADCUTTER).

That was the normal procedure when over on axle. Take care of business and then on down the road.

I have been held for a period because another company driver owed a fine, so they confiscated my truck until the company paid up (still was not wadcutter).

Nope, never did that.

I have seen the unloading/reloading of trucks---right at the scale house. MIGHT have been WADCUTTER.

That we did if over on gross. They had to get their load legal before they could continue. With 80,000 gross they were allowed 81,000 and only get a warning.
Drivers almost always knew pretty close how much they were hauling.

Never saw anyone handcuffed for being overweight....then again, WADCUTTER might have.

Years ago if a driver didn't have the bond for the overweight fine they could be held in jail until the company or whomever wired the money. Can't ever recall handcuffing any of them tho. They weren't hardened desporados. Can't think of any of them actually being held in the jail but they sat in the jail office next to the phones.

Creeper Cops get paid to regulate truckers, the FEDS give them authority to do so. Everyone I have talked to (maybe WADCUTTER) say they have no authority to "regulate" RVs. I am sure if they see unsafe driving/load they will "speak" with you, but they can't just pull you over to check you documentation----they can do that to truckers.

In IL only the State Police has the authority to enforce Motor Carrier Safety regs. We received extra training and certification for MCS levels. Being a Trooper has a lot of freedom on what you chose to enforce on a particular day. Some Troops liked working truck enforcement, others liked working DUIs, some liked speed enforcement. Just depends on the individual and what they feel like doing on any given day. Some days I might have wanted to look for DUIs and wouldn't take a 2nd look at a semi. So if we saw an RV doing something illegal there was no issue taking enforcement action.

4x4ord wrote:
British Columbia, Canada is the only jurisdiction that I am aware of that has a law in place concerning weights of RV's. Their law indicates that an RV or tow vehicle with a GVWR under 5500 KGs cannot be loaded over that maximum gross vehicle weight rating. In practice it is very unlikely that a 2500 Duramax towing a fifth wheel would ever run into trouble but if a car or truck is towing something with its headlights pointing to moon and a LEO sees him he can have the vehicle weighed and charge the driver accordingly.



Fact sheet

Funny enough, we did have some family friends that got pulled over for being overweight on the Coquihalla back in 2013. First year of their retirement, they were towing a 26 ft RV when they got pulled over by an RCMP officer for being unsafely overweight. It took a bit, but they actually managed to convince the officer that yes, their 93' Cadillac Fleetwood did in fact come with a 7000 lb towing package and they were legal. I've seen pictures, and the nose was pointing higher than the rear. Apparently to tow anything over 5000 lb, the rear air shocks have to be disabled. Having said that, they now have a nice Tahoe to handle towing duties.

Wadcutter wrote:
Spring time. Another 'overweight question".
Do you really think your rig or any rig is even close to approaching the max weight limits? Seriously?
As nickthehunter pointed out max axle weights are usually 20,000 lbs for a single axle, 34,000 for a tandem axle and 80,000 gross (total) weight.
When talking those 'big' numbers people's eyes glaze over and they don't have any concept of what they mean.
Let's put it in perspective looking at a 5th wheel. Your truck weights 8000 or a bit less. You have a heavy 5th wheel that weighs 15,000 lbs loaded. Total weight then is 23,000 lbs.
Now lets look at the semis running down the road. Look at one that has one of the 53 ft box trailers. The tractor unit is a long nose double sleeper, long wheelbase rig. Empty that combination will weigh about 23,000 lbs, maybe a bit less.
Look at the those numbers again. That empty semi weighs the same as if you had a heavy pickup and a fully loaded 5er.
When people truly understand weight laws then they would see just how silly these questions really are. They think because they have a 'big' camper that somehow they're in the big boy's league of hauling weight. Not even close. Think about it. Your truck and camper have tires which may be the same load handling capacity as what's on your car or maybe just a bit more. If your rig was over 20,000 axle (10,000 per tire) do you think your tires wouldn't give out long before you maxed 20,000?
And yeah, I was the weight police. The real weight police. I didn't get my knowledge from listening to some fat guy sitting around the campfire. For 27 years I weighed a lot of trucks, taught truck weight laws, was recognized by the courts as an expert in truck weight laws, and commanded the highest fine generating scales in the state of IL.

For 5 years I drove a residential Side-load garbage truck for Waste Management. Empty, it weighed 13.5 tons (27,000 lbs). My Max weight was somewhere around 45,000 or so (it's been a few years). Like the man said, As a normal RV'er, you are never going to come close to hitting the max weight...Most likely, you would cause your trailer to break or your tow vehicle well before you hit 80,000 lbs...or 40 Tons...Go out, enjoy, and don't worry about the Weight Police.

06Fargo wrote:
Details appreciated like where, details of weight, fine or jail time, did your rig get towed, were you handcuffed...

I have heard some guys had to have there wife ride behind in a car or small open trailer.

I can think of one instance in Minnesota that will get an RV pulled over and a citation written, but it has nothing to do with the weight of the RV. There is a stretch of I-35 in St Paul that is classified as a Parkway. The speed limit is 45 mph and no vehicles over 10,000 GVWR are allowed at anytime. They have to take a different route.

I personally am always aware of my weight as are many on this forum. My guess is that far more passenger cars (not towing anything) with large Thule's on the top, five or six passengers and coolers strapped to the back of the vehicle are far more overweight than many RV's on the road. You'll never see them pulled over for being overweight, going too fast yes, but not because their rear tires are almost on the rims!

the bear II wrote:
Lawyers will look for overweight RVs involved in accidents
http://www.justaccidentlaw.com/motor-vehicle-accidents/rv-accidents-motor-homes/

LOL, you don't have to be overweight to have an ambulance chaser after you!

Be way over weight and side swipe someone and you're at fault.........guess what....you're at fault.

Be under weight by thousands of pounds and side swipe someone and you're at fault.....guess what....you're at fault!

I have never heard of a citation for overweight. I think what you are trying to get at is, what are the ramifications if I am over weight towing.

To me I look at it differently. I've been overweight many times, mostly due to not being able to afford the right equipment. I generally am only over weight with rock in the bed, but I've been overweight towing too. I have my setup with extra capacity not because the weight police. But because it makes the 10 hour journey so much easier with a proper setup. My buddy tows his 14k dry fifth wheel with a SRW F350 and he thinks it's fine. I'd prefer a dually as I've been in his pickup towing. To each their own.

HANDCUFFED for being overweight?

I have been fined, slide the axles, moved on (no it was not WADCUTTER).

I have been held for a period because another company driver owed a fine, so they confiscated my truck until the company paid up (still was not wadcutter).

I have seen the unloading/reloading of trucks---right at the scale house. MIGHT have been WADCUTTER.

Never saw anyone handcuffed for being overweight....then again, WADCUTTER might have.

Creeper Cops get paid to regulate truckers, the FEDS give them authority to do so. Everyone I have talked to (maybe WADCUTTER) say they have no authority to "regulate" RVs. I am sure if they see unsafe driving/load they will "speak" with you, but they can't just pull you over to check you documentation----they can do that to truckers.

Lawyers will look for overweight RVs involved in accidents
http://www.justaccidentlaw.com/motor-vehicle-accidents/rv-accidents-motor-homes/