Weigh Station ??

[TC_Z]

We were driving our 38 ft Class A MH West on I-20. As we entered MS a sign said "All Vehicles Over 5 Tons Must Enter". I didn't. Surely they meant DOT vehicles and trucks, right? Is a RV ever required at a Weigh Station? Not that i am aware of. Thanks.....

[Rick_Jay]

JaxDad wrote:
I personally saw a DP MH get run down by a LEO that came out of an open scale when it tried to drive past it in Michigan.

I won't argue what you saw, but there could be an explanation.

Almost 12 years ago, there was this post on these forums about "Private Coach - Not for Hire" signage. Seemed to be a lot of conflicting views then, too! 🙂

I have seen signs such as "Private Coach - Not for Hire" or some such verbage prominently displayed on the side of high-end DPs. I believe tour buses and such are considered commercial vehicles and DO have to stop at the scales. So folks who own these high end DPs which are often indistinguishable from the tour buses while on the road incorporate such signage to make it clear that their RV is NOT a commercial vehicle.

Perhaps what you observed was an LEO who was unclear as to whether the RV in question was private or commercial? In that case, the only way to know is to pull it over to verify. It doesn't necessarily mean that the LEO's were pulling over ALL RVs which passed the weigh station.

~Rick

[JaxDad]

way2roll wrote:
Why is this even a conversation? Non commercial RV's do not need to stop at weigh stations. Period. There is no "what if you are wrong".

You can’t just make a blanket statement like that, it’s wrong. Period.

There are numerous states require all RVs over 10,000 pounds to stop. Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Washington (State), and Wisconsin require private RVs, specialty vehicles, passenger vehicles, and trailers over 10,000 lbs to stop.

I personally saw a DP MH get run down by a LEO that came out of an open scale when it tried to drive past it in Michigan.

[Sandia_Man]

I find the list of states (posted above) where larger RVs supposedly have to stop surprising as we have driven our RVs through them without ever entering a weigh station, often we can see LEOs in or standing next to their patrol cars as we whisk by. They showed zero concern with our 40' nearly 30K# class A with toad.

We have been enjoying the RVing lifestyle for over 3 decades and never heard of RVers being hassled for passing a weigh station, since it is about making $$$ state run weigh stations are primarily concerned with overweight commercial vehicles. Sadly, the weight police on this forum would have them waste their efforts on private vehicles.

[btilfan]

I've only stopped once and that was because the sign said "this includes RV's" but they waved me through. I've been by that same one since, and it has not said RV's included since then. (Nebraska I80)

[way2roll]

Why is this even a conversation? Non commercial RV's do not need to stop at weigh stations. Period. There is no "what if you are wrong". It's not a thing. To the OP, no, you don't need to stop. If there is ANY evidence of a case where a personally owned RV did not stop at a weigh station and was cited for it, post it. Otherwise it's straw man argument for argument's sake.

[JRscooby]

JaxDad wrote:

I took what he said as being that there’s a FAR difference between ‘getting away with it’ and being strictly legal.

It’s strictly illegal to speed, if you do it every single day will you get caught? Maybe. Every single time you do it? Definitely not.

Case in point, there’s at least one member here who routinely states that their MH and trailer combination is longer than legally allowed in almost every state, including his own and 4 or 5 in any direction from his own.

He claims though that he has pulled that combination all over the continent and has never been stopped yet.

Does that mean the length laws no longer apply?

While I agree with what you are saying, I think you missed my point.
The sign says "Busses weigh", "all vehicles over 10,000 weigh" or "vehicles pulling trailers weigh", you question "Should I pull in?" like the OP did. Now many claim there is no need, but none of them will help you if you do wrong
I look at the risk/reward of both options. And over a lifetime, I have had a few issues at the scales (CMV) and been called out to help many others get legal to leave the scale.
Say you pull in. The worst that can happen is you are pulled out of line for a safty inspection. Now this is very unlikely, because that LEO knows the standards for safety are much lower than the CMV in front or behind. But if they do pull you out, for just a few minutes you get the peace of mind knowing your snot has nothing wrong with it. But most likely you just pull up, and go on. All you have lost is the time it takes to stop for 1 of the 8 sided signs.
Now let's look at what happens when you go by without stopping. Normally you saved the time it takes to stop for 1 of the 8 sided signs. But there is a very low, but not 0 probability that you will be stopped. (Bet most CMVs that run the scales get away with it. But if they get caught it is a real bad day) But if you lose, and do get stopped things will be much worse than the worse that could happen at the scale.
Somebody said they saw a scale sign that said "No RVs" Bet that if a small percentage of weight-watchers where offended by RVs pulling in the signage would change to eliminate the question from our mind.

[ferndaleflyer]

Hope you didn't mean me on the length as here I am legal, in NC its 90ft if involved in motorsports.

Also my friend and I were pulled over and returned to the West bound scales in Burlington NC a few years back. My vehicle and paperwork were in order and I was ok to go. He on the other hand had nothing right and was sited accordingly. Only time I ever heard of anyone being "chased down" and returned to the scales.

[JaxDad]

Two Jayhawks wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:
I've been all over the lower 48 with class A's for close to 30 years now. All weighed well over 10K & have never stopped at a weigh station. Nor do I plan to in the future. Where are all the posts from the RVers that didn't stop & weigh & were chased down?

Who the truck said they are likely to chase you down?
What I say is if a LEO is having a bad day he can decide you should of stopped, and chase you down. And once that happens, you will be out time and money proving you did not need to stop.
OTOH, if you are unsure, pull in, the worse that happens is they tell you to leave. If my pickup might be expected to stop (All vehicles with trailers for example), I will let them look at me.

Oh I see what ya did there with the word "truck". Cute! Do me this please, don't quote me anymore. I've been on this forum too long to be thrown off over that kind of silliness. Much appreciated.

I took what he said as being that there’s a FAR difference between ‘getting away with it’ and being strictly legal.

It’s strictly illegal to speed, if you do it every single day will you get caught? Maybe. Every single time you do it? Definitely not.

Case in point, there’s at least one member here who routinely states that their MH and trailer combination is longer than legally allowed in almost every state, including his own and 4 or 5 in any direction from his own.

He claims though that he has pulled that combination all over the continent and has never been stopped yet.

Does that mean the length laws no longer apply?

[Two_Jayhawks]

JRscooby wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:
I've been all over the lower 48 with class A's for close to 30 years now. All weighed well over 10K & have never stopped at a weigh station. Nor do I plan to in the future. Where are all the posts from the RVers that didn't stop & weigh & were chased down?

Who the truck said they are likely to chase you down?
What I say is if a LEO is having a bad day he can decide you should of stopped, and chase you down. And once that happens, you will be out time and money proving you did not need to stop.
OTOH, if you are unsure, pull in, the worse that happens is they tell you to leave. If my pickup might be expected to stop (All vehicles with trailers for example), I will let them look at me.

Oh I see what ya did there with the word "truck". Cute! Do me this please, don't quote me anymore. I've been on this forum too long to be thrown off over that kind of silliness. Much appreciated.

[JRscooby]

Two Jayhawks wrote:
I've been all over the lower 48 with class A's for close to 30 years now. All weighed well over 10K & have never stopped at a weigh station. Nor do I plan to in the future. Where are all the posts from the RVers that didn't stop & weigh & were chased down?

Who the truck said they are likely to chase you down?
What I say is if a LEO is having a bad day he can decide you should of stopped, and chase you down. And once that happens, you will be out time and money proving you did not need to stop.
OTOH, if you are unsure, pull in, the worse that happens is they tell you to leave. If my pickup might be expected to stop (All vehicles with trailers for example), I will let them look at me.

[Two_Jayhawks]

I've been all over the lower 48 with class A's for close to 30 years now. All weighed well over 10K & have never stopped at a weigh station. Nor do I plan to in the future. Where are all the posts from the RVers that didn't stop & weigh & were chased down?

[donkeydew]

I don't remember which state it was but several weigh station had large hand written signs reading no rv's

[dodge_guy]

No, private vehicles are not required to stop.

[Seattle_Steve]

Lwiddis wrote:

Next time I’m in Washington I’ll remember to do anything I can get away with?

You'll fit right in. 😉

[wolfe10]

Like most of the others, in a quarter million miles in diesel pushers, never stopped at one and was never asked to.

We are not a commercial vehicle.