RV towing weight info

This thread is not meant to start an argument but I thought After reading several threads here and other places I wanted to find out some information, I did and thought I would pass it along. 1st of all: I know RVers are generally not weighed by the DOT as semis are, I understand that, but they do have the legal authority to do so if they wanted to and the day may come when they will. I contacted a few friends who drive commercially and one is a truck driver trainer and this is what i found out.

Any Semi Rig that is over any front or rear axle weight or GCVWR can be ticketed and fined; BUT if they are also over GVWR of the Semi truck and over the payload limit, 5th wheel weight, when the trailer is connected they can be ticketed and fined as well even if they are under axle weights and GCVWR.

So those arbitrary numbers, as some call them, for payload and GVWR can cause a legal problem if it is pursued. As I said, it may not be at this current time but they way government works don't be surprised when it comes to pass, so my thought is it is better to be safe than sorry. I have read on another forum, cant verify the truth of it, but in a few states and in Canada they have pulled over RVs for being over weight.

IF you get in a wreck and you are found being over weight on any of the weight numbers it can cause major legal hassles if the right attorneys get involved.

Be safe and happy camping every one!

It's the same as a diesel owner deleting the truck. It's not legal but most are gonna do it lolol

I agree.

Just because it will "handle it" doesn't make it legal. I've never been stoped pulling my RV's, but I can about guarantee if I was ever in a accident that caused injury of death to another person, weather the accident was my fault or not, the weights would be checked and verified.

I have been pull over several times while towing my mowing rig or other equipment.

mowin said:

I agree.

Just because it will "handle it" doesn't make it legal. I've never been stoped pulling my RV's, but I can about guarantee if I was ever in a accident that caused injury of death to another person, weather the accident was my fault or not, the weights would be checked and verified.

I have been pull over several times while towing my mowing rig or other equipment.

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I posted my information on another Ram forum and I had someone from Canada reply with the statement:

“Yes in Canada the MTO can pull you over if they suspect your over your weight. Big fines and possible impoundment.”

I forgot about the fact that several people had been pulled over because of the lawn trailers pulled behind them carrying lawn equipment being overweight because on the specs of the trailer or the stamped tongue weight on the truck. I know this for fact because I’m a member of Lawnsite.com

muzupan said:

I posted my information on another Ram forum and I had someone from Canada reply with the statement:

“Yes in Canada the MTO can pull you over if they suspect your over your weight. Big fines and possible impoundment.”

I forgot about the fact that several people had been pulled over because of the lawn trailers pulled behind them carrying lawn equipment being overweight because on the specs of the trailer or the stamped tongue weight on the truck. I know this for fact because I’m a member of Lawnsite.com

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Member of lawnsite also, but I've stayed away for many yrs. Too many " its my way or your wrong" members, along with those that only have negative posts about stuff they know absolutely nothing about.

As mentioned, I've been stoped while pulling my mowers around. Usually local LEO or sheriffs. I keep a printout of my mower specs in the truck as most don't know a thing about what a mower weighs. Had one local tell me they had to weigh 4k each. Lol. Luckily very few DOT sightings in my neck of the woods.

Anyone with a CDL type license has to follow a whole different set of rules. So while I get the idea of being over weight and getting ticketed. Do not mistake a "professional" driver from some Yahoo pulling his RV. It is a LOT different, especially from a leo stand point.

Farmer Fran said:

Anyone with a CDL type license has to follow a whole different set of rules. So while I get the idea of being over weight and getting ticketed. Do not mistake a "professional" driver from some Yahoo pulling his RV. It is a LOT different, especially from a leo stand point.

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Very true. The fines for the same infraction while driving professionally are much steeper then the ones handed out to a civilian. Although (in NY anyway) if pulled over in you personal vehicle, and you've got a CDL, the LEO's feel you should know better, and are much more likely to write that ticket over giving a warning.

Drove truck for many years, and DOT was more than a PITA..

It's really hard to trust people that drive truck for me just because I was a tire tech at Love's travel stop for a while and some of the things I've seen with owner/operators scared the living hell out of me or some of the practices of tire maintainence made me scratch my head, and dont even get me started on some drivers who pull cattle ugh..... I digress but rules are set for a reason If they can't follow them they probably should'nt be driving. Rant over

muzupan said:

Any Semi Rig that is over any front or rear axle weight or GCVWR can be ticketed and fined; BUT if they are also over GVWR of the Semi truck and over the payload limit, 5th wheel weight, when the trailer is connected they can be ticketed and fined as well even if they are under axle weights and GCVWR.

So those arbitrary numbers, as some call them, for payload and GVWR can cause a legal problem if it is pursued.

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Yes, a rig can be ticketed or fined for going over the federal bridge weight ratings of 20K lbs per axle. I highly doubt that any class 2 or 3 truck would be able to move with 20,000 lbs on the axle.

Yes, anyone can be fined for being over their GVWR, which is a registration number only. You can register any car you want for any weight that you want. My previous truck was a Toyota Tundra, I registered it for 10,000 lbs. Maryland has a 7000 lbs weight class or a 10,000 lbs weight class. Legally I could carry 10,000 lbs of weight on my 4 truck tires, even though Toyota assigned the arbitrary number of 7200 lbs. I didn't want to register it for only 7000 lbs and lose 200 lbs of payload, so I paid another $15 or 20 a year to increase my legal payload to 10,000 lbs.

The numbers from the manufacturer are completely and totally arbitrary, but if you register your vehicle to those arbitrary numbers than you are legally limited to those numbers.

spoon059 said:

Yes, a rig can be ticketed or fined for going over the federal bridge weight ratings of 20K lbs per axle. I highly doubt that any class 2 or 3 truck would be able to move with 20,000 lbs on the axle.

Yes, anyone can be fined for being over their GVWR, which is a registration number only. You can register any car you want for any weight that you want. My previous truck was a Toyota Tundra, I registered it for 10,000 lbs. Maryland has a 7000 lbs weight class or a 10,000 lbs weight class. Legally I could carry 10,000 lbs of weight on my 4 truck tires, even though Toyota assigned the arbitrary number of 7200 lbs. I didn't want to register it for only 7000 lbs and lose 200 lbs of payload, so I paid another $15 or 20 a year to increase my legal payload to 10,000 lbs.

The numbers from the manufacturer are completely and totally arbitrary, but if you register your vehicle to those arbitrary numbers than you are legally limited to those numbers.

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In order to register a higher GVWR do you need to still be within axle limits?

mtofell said:

In order to register a higher GVWR do you need to still be within axle limits?

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No, you just need to be under the Federal DOT axle rating of 20,000 lbs. I would never encourage anyone to exceed the axle ratings, because doing so opens you up to huge liability concerns in the civil lawsuit arena. My 2015 Ram 2500 is rated to something like 5500 lbs front axle and 6500 lbs rear axle. I wouldn't have any concerns with registering my vehicle to 12000 lbs and driving around. That way I am at or under the axle ratings that Ram gave (which are lower than AAM gives).

Heaven forbid I ever get into a wreck and get sued, I could easily argue that my vehicle was at or under the axle ratings given by the truck manufacturer and it would be substantially more difficult for an attorney to argue that I was negligent. That's an argument for a different thread though!