Trailing behind 5th wheel

[mikewats]

We go to Fort Wilderness often during the year. I recently bought golf cart to use while we are camping there. My question is I see several 5th wheels coming thru Georgia with a trailer behind them either to haul a motorcycle or golf cart. I think Georgia law prohibits that if your are a Georgia resident. Does anyone know what the law is and if one played ignorant just wondering what the worst that could happen

[ogfalconsr]

Here's a link from 2014 in which I and several others got in a heated debate of this exact topic. The most current info is it is not legal in Florida unless you have a commercial vehicle. Also in this thread is a complete listing of states that allow for double tow. Heck I even got flamed for challenging this law. I probably will still double tow when I head to Walt Disney World and Ft Wilderness.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27924121.cfm

[vic46]

Winged One wrote:

ol Bombero-JC wrote:
Will the CHP stop an out-of-state double tow?
Firm "maybe".

~

Well I hope not when I go there. I have a "Recreational Double" license for Michigan, and California is supposed to honor this. Hope I don't find a CHP with nothing better to do than waste my time.

Apples and oranges, maybe! A swivel wheel deck arrangement, as viewed in your rig's picture, is NOT a trailer in some states and provinces. Ergo you are a double tow if the jurisdiction's regulations accept the premise that a swivel wheel arrangement is not considered to be a trailer.

[laknox]

sayoung wrote:

laknox wrote:
Here in AZ, total length is 75' and first coupler MUST be a fifth wheel. Second coupler can be another fifth wheel, pintle or ball hitch. Can NOT have a ball or pintle as the first hitch.

Saying this, there used to be farmer down Yuma way that would hook 4 loaded cotton trailers together, about 8,000 lbs EACH, with clevis hitches and tow the whole train down I-8 from his farm to the cotton gin. He'd pull EIGHT empties back...usually running 70-75 mph, according to my dad. Zero brakes on anything but the truck. 🙂

Lyle

If Az hwy rules are anything like ours,farm use has its own set of rules that let's them do this.

Could be. Frankly, I forgot about that, but we hardly ever found reason to run into it, except for wide loads.

Lyle

[Winged_One]

ol Bombero-JC wrote:
Will the CHP stop an out-of-state double tow?
Firm "maybe".

~

Well I hope not when I go there. I have a "Recreational Double" license for Michigan, and California is supposed to honor this. Hope I don't find a CHP with nothing better to do than waste my time.

[sayoung]

laknox wrote:
Here in AZ, total length is 75' and first coupler MUST be a fifth wheel. Second coupler can be another fifth wheel, pintle or ball hitch. Can NOT have a ball or pintle as the first hitch.

Saying this, there used to be farmer down Yuma way that would hook 4 loaded cotton trailers together, about 8,000 lbs EACH, with clevis hitches and tow the whole train down I-8 from his farm to the cotton gin. He'd pull EIGHT empties back...usually running 70-75 mph, according to my dad. Zero brakes on anything but the truck. 🙂

Lyle

If Az hwy rules are anything like ours,farm use has its own set of rules that let's them do this.

[Allworth]

Thirty years as a Traffic Engineer (PE) in Florida, and:

1. Commercial Carriers only

2. Special Permit required (Can be a blanket Permit for a Corporation)

3. Restricted to limited access roadways and a limited surface street access area around specific interchanges. At some Turnpike exits, doubles have to drop the second trailer at the toll area and come back and get it later (or have a second tractor meet them).

[Vannnce]

http://towingworld.com/towinglaws.cfm

[Beverley_Ken]

From the Florida DOT website
A. Florida State Statute 316.515 (3) covers the number of trailers and length of trailers allowed in Florida. This section allows commercial vehicles to have two trailing units but non-commercial units can have only one trailing unit. Your pickup truck pulling your travel trailer AND golf cart trailer would be illegal:

Florida DOT

Ken

[laknox]

Here in AZ, total length is 75' and first coupler MUST be a fifth wheel. Second coupler can be another fifth wheel, pintle or ball hitch. Can NOT have a ball or pintle as the first hitch.

Saying this, there used to be farmer down Yuma way that would hook 4 loaded cotton trailers together, about 8,000 lbs EACH, with clevis hitches and tow the whole train down I-8 from his farm to the cotton gin. He'd pull EIGHT empties back...usually running 70-75 mph, according to my dad. Zero brakes on anything but the truck. 🙂

Lyle

[Dog_Folks]

The highway patrolman quoted here needs to check the law book he has been issued and should be in his patrol car. Here is the quote from the 2014 law, that is as current as it can be:

"Unless otherwise specifically provided for in this section, a combination of vehicles not qualifying as commercial motor vehicles may consist of no more than two units coupled together;"

NO MORE THAN TWO UNITS COUPLED TOGETHER. That is pretty clear.

[VoodooMedicineM]

If your not a commercial vehicle you can not double tow in Florida

[ol_Bombero-JC]

majorgator wrote:

VoodooMedicineMan wrote:
Georgia and Florida do not allow double towing with an RV.

Here is a web site showing which states allow and don't allow

Your website link is from 2009, so definitely not valid anymore.
My relative that is current LEO (highway patrol) has confirmed to me that it IS LEGAL in FL.

Ask your relative for the "caveats" for a Double Tow.
BTW - Surprise! Often LEOs are *not* current themselves!

No matter what the date, the list doesn't indicate the "hoops" you must jump thru to double tow!..:S

There usually are "hoops" for any state.

EX: CA requires at least a 1T truck, and a Class A license (forget whether a NON-commercial Class A will work).
Those req's have been in effect long before 2009 - and still are.

Length limit is 65'

Will the CHP stop an out-of-state double tow?
Firm "maybe".
Lots depends on the officer, how busy he is, his assignment, the (your) "combo", and any current enforcement "directives".


~

[ol_Bombero-JC]

mikewats wrote:
We go to Fort Wilderness often during the year. I recently bought golf cart to use while we are camping there. My question is I see several 5th wheels coming thru Georgia with a trailer behind them either to haul a motorcycle or golf cart. I think Georgia law prohibits that if your are a Georgia resident. Does anyone know what the law is and if one played ignorant just wondering what the worst that could happen

"Does anyone know......."
Check the law in the state/s you plan to travel in/through.

Ignorance of the law (anywhere) is *no* excuse!..:S

Registration and DLs are the only items with reciprocity from state to state.
*Maybe* you get away with it, maybe not.
(Every state is looking for "avenues" to increase revenue - what might have been ignored before, may not be now)

Soooooo - - Worst thing that could happen....

1. Citation - and/or

2. UN-hook the trailer and find a way to get it where you want without the double tow.

Your dice to roll. Good luck!..:D

~

[DirtyOil]

majorgator wrote:

VoodooMedicineMan wrote:
Georgia and Florida do not allow double towing with an RV.

Here is a web site showing which states allow and don't allow

Your website link is from 2009, so definitely not valid anymore.
My relative that is current LEO (highway patrol) has confirmed to me that it IS LEGAL in FL.

2011 Florida Statutes - chapter 316 sections 515

LENGTH LIMITATION.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, length limitations apply solely to a semitrailer or trailer, and not to a truck tractor or to the overall length of a combination of vehicles. No combination of commercial motor vehicles coupled together and operating on the public roads may consist of more than one truck tractor and two trailing units. Unless otherwise specifically provided for in this section, a combination of vehicles not qualifying as commercial motor vehicles may consist of no more than two units coupled together; such nonqualifying combination of vehicles may not exceed a total length of 65 feet,


Looks like as in most States/Provinces, doubling towing is ok as long as you are 65 feet or less combined length? But then I'm not a Lawyer... and "two units coupled together"... could/maybe, mean TV and trailer, or TV and two trailers(units)?