Unbraked trailer, towing limitations
Hey folks, I’m looking for a new tow vehicle for a rig coming in at 2700 lbs, loaded, per the scale. I decided to trade down to a more modest unibody suv like the highlander, telluride or similar wit...
Forum Discussion
Wadcutter wrote:
I was one of the first certified CVEO in the state. Did it for a lot of years, taught CVE for a lot of years. There's so much hooey on this thread concerning what a CVEO supposedly said that you can discount it. As soon as someone mentions CVEO enforcement on your RV then just page right on by their post. They don't know what they're talking about.
CVEO = Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officer. Read that very first word. Commercial. You pulling your popup or 43 ft 5er down the road is not a commercial vehicle. None of the commercial vehicle laws apply. Why? Think about it. Because you are not a commercial vehicle. It's clearly defined in the FMCSA. It's obvious some who are attributing something to a CVEO have never read any of the FMCSA.
Manufacturers do not make the law. It doesn't matter what the manufacturer says is the limit. That is not the law. The state doesn't make trailers, the manufacturers don't make the law.
For the person who said they said saw 4 people sitting in court to pay fines because they overweight on their RV or boat. They were not overweight on their RV or boat. They may be over on their registration for the weight they were hauling but they weren't overweight. Totally different. Know the difference in terminology.
Generally weight limits per axle are 20K per single axle. Sometimes 18K depending on the class of the highway. You're not going to be overweight on a boat or RV axle limit. You may be over on your registration limit. If you only paid registration to haul 8K and hauling 12K that's over on registration and is an offense. Pay for the higher rate registration and you can haul it. But it's not overweight.
Well, if I use a tandem dump mostly to haul dirt and rough haul, and don't want to get into the heavy vehicle tax, I license it for 54,000 lbs. Most loads will be well under 16 tons, so I'm in good shape. OTOH, if I decide to load 20 ton of gravel, get caught, I can tell you exactly what it will say on the ticket(s) 1 will say I was OVER licensed Gross WEIGHT by (roughly 7000) lbs. And when I call the court, give them the ticket number, the will read the same formula as what the charge is for over axle or tandem weight. (That works out to $635.00 for 7000 lbs)
If I had the lowest class plates on my pickup, got stopped pulling my popup, I have no doubt that ticket would read overweight by more than 3000 lbs, or $235 worth. I have a good idea that the boys pulling boats had that kind of ticket.
While you are correct, length and weight law enforcement is aimed at CMVs the idea that that means they can't be enforced against RVs is ridiculous. If they're set up expecting to catch a farmer running fat with a load of wheat, and you drive up with a plate saying I DID'T PAY FOR THIS WEIGHT, they might change your mind!
