OT? Maybe, DOT # for 1 ton Pickups

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: OT? Maybe, DOT # for 1 ton Pickups
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Hatch on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 04:23 pm:

Did anyone here see the thread on AACA forum about guys getting tickets for not having a DOT number on 1 ton pickups hauling a car on trailer and going to a car show? Trooper said that since they could get a trophy, that made them get income so it was for profit. Guy was stopped in PA in route from New England to a car show in NC. Input??? Dan


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 04:44 pm:

It is getting to a point laws change and no one knows till the tickets roll in.
I hope these folks get lawyers and buck this mess.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 05:07 pm:

Sounds like the trooper was going to extremes trying to scrape up revenue. Last I knew of DOT #'s only applied to trucks for hire or business. Correct me if I'm wrong. KGB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 05:15 pm:

I got to thinking, if this trooper thinks trophys are income, then lets hand him a couple for jack@$$ first place and best dressed, and tell him to go get us some pizza and cold drinks for supper with them. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 05:20 pm:

That's so utterly bogus I'd be inclined to lawyer up and make a stink.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 05:23 pm:

I'm with Steve 100%. Time to lawyer up and deal with this sort of nonsense.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 06:24 pm:

So where is the "profit"? $50 trophy for thousands invested? I wonder if they do it for vehicles pulling animal trailers to county fairs and other such hauling? Their logic has no sense other that raising revenue. Penn does have some strange and strict traffic laws but this is asinine.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Swanson on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 06:46 pm:

not trophys, but the dot can ruin your day in many other ways. going to a swap meet with a trailer load? you are now a commercial vehicle. got a load of scrap iron? yup, commercial vehicle. a few years ago they went through the local high school parking lot looking for pick ups with farm plates on them. thats illegle in our modern world to drive a farm truck for non farm use.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Miller, Sequim WA on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 06:47 pm:

I've been out of it for a few years now so this might not still be relevant anymore. The Dot numbers are a federal number to keep track of interstate transportation of goods. I owned many large trucks for moving my equipment to and from the sites where it was used and sometimes even across state lines. I never had a DOT number for over 20 years as long as I was hauling My own stuff.
Talk to a trucker that you know. He will know the current rules for the DOT.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Swanson on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 06:50 pm:

thats still true fred, no dot # untill you are making money, then you need one


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Hatch on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 08:06 pm:

Has to do with the 10,000 GVW and like Fred says. I will try and find the thread so we can look at it first hand. Some of the guys(AACA Forum) were saying that they would just get a DOT number. Well that opens up all kinds of cans of worms. This may be something that we all need to bone up on so we get stopped we will know how to respond. Dan


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Danuser on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 08:33 pm:

I pulled a triple axle box w/liv quarters w/ a F450 Disel Dually, I had to get a Class A CDL , and w/this heart problem, the Doc won't sign my health card, so now I can't pull to swaps, DOT officiers told me I had to have a DOT # which I got, and the reason was I was selling parts out of state for profit! By the time fuel, tires, space $$$, lots of times made ZERO, what agravates me if you pull those same parts to a swap meet w/a motorhome and box trailer you don't have to stop at scales or have a DOT or Class A CDL. It sucks


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Hatch on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 08:39 pm:

The thread is Pa Trailer Hassle. I will try a link

PA Trailer Hassle

Hope this works. Dan


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob McDonald-Federal Way, Wa. on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 09:24 pm:

If you have a DOT# and are considered to be making money you better look out for IRS also. OH don't forget to keep a proper log with Hours and pullover at all scales. (Check your axle wts.)

Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By A. Gustaf Bryngelson on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 09:48 pm:

The up side is he should be able to deduct the expenses and depreciate the cost of the car.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 10:13 pm:

Well, i have a ragged old f350 with a 10 foot dump box on it. I loaded all my house hold garbage on the back and was going to stop in at the county landfill that has dumpsters for residential trash.
"Oh sorry sir, you cant take that to the residential dumpster,this is a commerical truck".
Behind me was a f350 dualy with a pickup box on it and king ranch on the fender.
Same payload capacity,but i had a dump body.He got rid of his trash, I had to go home and reload it on a pickup and bring it back or pay about 75 bucks to get rid of trash instead of 10 dollars.
Crazy lawmakers,both local and state that have no idea what they are doing but makeing money appear out of nowhere for their pet projects.

Yes I hope this dude lawyers up and we see this issue resolved in a positive way.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill in Adelaida Calif on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 10:43 pm:

I know in Taxifornia that this is an area that the commertial CHP likes to watch. A contractor with his one ton dually pulling a trailer with a backhoe on it is running a risk of being stopped and the driver better have the right license for his truck-trailer combo. If the gvw of the truck and the trailer are too high then insta-ticket if he does not have a medical card and the right license.
However if he is pulling that same trailer with Ford Excursion Diesel he is off the hook! Why? cause that big ole diesel is a PASSENGER car and exempt from the weight restrictions.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Clayton Swanson on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 11:12 pm:

he can lawyer up, but he aint gonna win. one more interesting local event is they now go after the race guys at the local dirt track.the theory is again, they make money if they win, so its a commercial vehicle. they mostly are looking for unsafe trailer hitches etc. and rarely write any tickets, but a couple times a summer they show up at the track. dot talk makes my blood boil so i will tell my favorite story, kinda long, hope you dont have to go to bed early. i used to be a big collector of ww2 stuff, drove all over the west "shopping". at one time i had 11 halftracks, not sure how many dodge power wagons, but the big prize was an m7 priest, 105mm gun motor carrage. same chassis as a sherman tank, but with a fixed gun instead of a turret. i hauled for 18 years in a 63 ford 1 ton always dangerously overloaded, and sneaking around the scales untill i finally bought a bigger truck so i had brakes before i kill some one. this trip, i had been to the west coast, and then back through montana for more pieces of the m7. i bought 3 in white sulpher springs that had been cut in half by the army, and the guy there had been welding them back together to make logging tractors. i hired a semi to haul the main hulls, and over a couple years i picked up all the small stuff, tracks, suspension parts etc. all very heavy. new truck, 95 ford, 5.9 cummins, and AIR BRAKES! well half way through the trip, the air drier started going off every three miles. air drier is supposed to go off when the system pumps up to max air, then blow off a second or two to spit out any moisture. mine was going off all the time and i did not understand the system at the time so i was scared and stopped at a truck repair place to check it out.they told me what was wrong, and said as long as it keeps up to operating preasure, go ahead and drive it home. now, for the already bored, the action starts. comming into south dakota the dot had a roadside inspection going and waived me in. first question-lets see your log book. reply, i dont need one, i am not commercial. next question-i see you dont have a current commercial vehicle inspection sticker on your windshield. reply, i dont need one i am not commercial. then he tells me to pull off to the side and leave the vehcle running. why i dont know, but i wanted to shut it off because the whole time he was talking the air drier is blowin off and i'm figuring he can put the truck out of service for that, then i'm just a poor boy long ways from home. next is a brief inspection to see if all my lights work, then he wanted to see the freight bills for my load. i dont have any, i'm not commercial. well, where did you get this stuff? some was bought 2 years ago, and some was bought on ebay, no reciepts. next as he is finally looking at my load, what is this stuff? i was all army green, military for sure, and when i said ww2 tank parts he looked like he was ready to call in for reinforcements to help subdue this crazed commy militia that he caught. now keep in mind this all took about 45 minutes, he was a one man show, so all that time many many commercial trucks roared past happy to see i had the parking spot taken. in the end, he gave me 4 warning tickets. no log, no freight bills, no commercial inspection sticker, and no dot number. now the fun part, about a month later there was a message on my phone one day to call capt. so and so from the south dakota state patrol. what the hell do they want now???? i thought, so i called, and he told me I WAS RITE, and the officer at the scene had been reinformed of the laws, and i should feel free to travel across south dakota any time i wish! good nite


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 11:15 pm:

"Nothing But Trouble" with Chevy Chase. 1991 movie.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 11:45 pm:

A lot of gooseneck, fifth wheel, and all tongue pull trailers can be pulled with a 3/4 ton truck. get one with a towing package or the heaviest springs you can get, and tow on.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike_black on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 12:04 am:

Before ordering a new trailer, I was recently doing some research on overall length, when I ran across a statement that said.....does not apply to recreational vehicles! Although I have a CDL and a current med card, I don't have to. My rig is a motorhome (with air brakes) pulling a box trailer--I'm 70 ft long and weigh 40,000 lbs and, as John said, I have no special requirements or restrictions! I know it scares me when I see one of those big Prevost motorhomes driven by an 85 year old man barely 5 ft tall.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stroud on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 04:39 am:

I don't have any idea about PA. laws now, but when I was in Fort Eustis VA. in '69 going through Chinook helicopter repair school, we had a guy from PA. that had a '55 Chevy. I also had a '55 Chevy and mentioned to him that I had installed amber parking/turn signal lights because they looked cool and were like the newer cars at the time. He told me that he had done the same thing, and he got a ticket because they weren't "original" to the year even though they were "safer". Sometimes you just can't fix stupid. Dave


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 06:50 am:

Well in NC,you must have a tag on your trailer but if the tow vehicle lights are visible, no lights needed, as in a 4x8 or something.
In Sc you need lights but no tag.

Now, that tells me my home state wants funds from license plates more-so than safety for the motorist.
So it is logical for other laws to be written up with the same goal in mind.Easy money.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joseph W. Rudzik on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 08:05 am:

The state of Missouri cut funding for law enforcement officers, but added a $3.00 court cost charge that goes to their retirement fund statewide. My wife had her social cut because, as a teacher, she didn't have enough months to count up. Traffic stops have jumped and there are "ambush alleys" now. This has turned the cops into "state tax collectors" and keeps them busy collecting taxes on helmet, seatbelt and cell-phone ordinances and the drug dealer they bust twice is still selling up the street and they can't seem to touch him.
A few years back the local law was busting collector car folk on tours with Historic Tags for not having proper mileage logs and driving too many miles on tags, can't figure how they figured that one. I went to regular tags, cost a little extra, but saves the BS.

Joe R.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 09:07 am:

Well, after alot of thought about this,I must repeat what I have said before on other subjects.
Common sense needs to prevail.
The simple truth is as citizens when we get on the highway we need to try to haul and tow and drive safe as we can with the best equipment we can afford so if anything happens we can still sleep at night knowing we did the best we were able to.

Once a blue light is pulled on you for any reason this day and time, the man pulling that switch becomes judge,jury and executioner. His word will stand above yours unless you are really sharp on the laws or your lawyer paid the judges car payment the night before.
There was 1 hot afternoon at work that I was filling up my state truck at the gas pump and 2 dmv officers were filling up as well because their offices pumps were down.
A crew leader was discussing inspections and such and I over heard this and it really sunk in.
1 officer made the statement that he could drive up to the nearest Freight liner plant, which was about 100 miles away and sit by the gate.He could pick a truck leaving the factory,pull it over and park it until repairs were made as most were not roadworthy by law when leaving the factory.
Once I heard that I figured out right quick I was unable to comply if a officer really wanted to throw the book at me.
I still hold a Class A cdl but cant get a health card. I had to sign a waiver that I would not use the license for commercial vehicle operation recently or loose them totally. I still try to be a optimist and think maby someday i can get my health card.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jeff Hood on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 03:29 pm:

It's probably a matter of throwing a blanket over a candle to put out the fire.

A few years ago in the fair city I live in, Police were issuing tickets to pickup trucks parked on residential streets. In California, all pickup trucks and all vans without passenger seating must have commercial license plates, and must pay a yearly "weight fee" along with their registration. Since the weight is shown on the registration, an officer can run the plate and see the weight of the truck. Many F-150's and most all F-250 and F-350's will have a weight listed over the 6000# limit for a residential street, so they were ticketed for a commercial vehicle not on a truck route and exceeding the posted limit for the street. Needless to say, this caused quite an uproar at the next city council meeting!

Turns out that a plumber was running his business out of his house and had four other plumbers working for him. In the morning his crew would arrive in their personal vehicles and park in front of neighboring houses and leave in their plumbing trucks. In the evening they would return and park the plumbing trucks in front of peoples houses and drive home in their personal vehicles. Neighbors were complaining, so instead of taking care of the actual problem, the city decided to ticket any "commercial vehicle" parked on the street overnight.

After the turn out at the council meeting, it was decided that private pickups were ok, but work trucks were not, so now nobody could drive their work truck home. Any truck that looked like a work truck, such as a pickup with a crossbed tool box or a lumber or ladder rack might be ticketed. An F-250 with a utility body is not ok and neither are pickups or vans with company names on them. Then came the debate about parking RV's on the street, and whether or not a pickup with a slide in camper was an RV or a commercial vehicle........


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Will Copeland - Trenton, New Jersey on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 03:50 pm:

I have a feeling that any officer that pulls you over for anything already has clearance to write the ticket from the local JP's to do so without question knowing in advance that the person will end up being found guilty in court.. Most officers will not waste their time writing tickets that can't be found guilty. You can just bet that the Police, Judges and Town councils all work together.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky, Lytle TX on Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 09:15 pm:

My run in with a PA state trooper was more than fare. But that was many years ago. He wrote a ticket for 10 over but I know I was way over that. "Just trying to get home" is all I said. It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way from West Virginia to Ohio. I was doing some consulting work for an aluminum company and drove from Ohio to WV on Monday and returned on Friday. I did that for about three months. Only got caught once. :-)


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