Towing capacity vs max cargo weight rating

KD4UPL wrote:
The legal definition of overweight is either tires/axles or registered weight. GVWR is not a legal definition; neither is "payload".
If you're truck's RAWR is 7,000 and the scaled weight on that axle is 7,000 or less you are not legally over weight. Even if your overall truck is over it's GVWR. However, if your total truck weight is, say, 12,000 pounds but your truck is only registered for 10,000 pounds then you are legally overweight. Again, GVWR has nothing to do with it.
As to the fairly low payload of the truck in question, they are assuming a 150 pound passenger in every seat according to the text posted. So if the truck has 6 seat-belt positions and it's just the driver in there you can add 5 x 150 pounds to that "payload" rating.
There are LOTS of kinds of traielrs; by far the most difficult to tow is a hard wall RV type of trailer. Boat, flatbed, utility, dump, etc. are all far easier to tow and generally have a lower percentage of pin/tongue weight if loaded correctly.

The definition of legal weight will be decided in civil court if there is a suit. The opposing lawyer will attempt to show negligence anyway possible. If the lawyers can establish one where exceeding any of the manufacturers ratings it will give them data and ammunition to use against someone.
Now I don't believe this data is routinely presented in court because for the most part the hard data is not available.
However I'm not naïve enough to believe over ratings data is never presented in civil court.
Civil court is not traffic court. Civil court is not deciding if you get a ticket. Civil court decides on negligence and the law suit portion of a case. In a case involving loss of life there are often two trials!