Thread: license plates FYI

The registration is plainly marked "commercial"

My registration shows commercial. But I have a shell on the bed and a mobility scooter lift in the bed to pick up my scooter...

Originally Posted by sonnyy13n

Only the pinbox and hitch plate are in the bed. The rest of the weight is on the 4 tires of the trailer. I also would like to see any pictures of 12,000 lbs in the bed of the truck, just not in my truck, thank you. Total weight of trailer is 12,000 lbs gvwr

You do know I was being sarcastic, right?

Originally Posted by 2005F250

I thought that was only if you had a shell or bedcap and declared the the vehilce non commercial. Are handycap plates considered non-comm. or are they just considered handycap but still commercial?

I may be way off base here as I just assumed that putting handicap plates on change the vehicle from commercial status to passenger vehicle status, in which you are not able to haul ANYTHING in the bed of the truck.

Yes I know you were just pulling my chain!! I also went to the Lancaster DMV to take the written test for RV Endorsement on my class C license, because my trailers GVWR is more than 10,000 lbs but not more than 15,000 lbs. They did not have a clue as to what I was talking about. So I guess i will have to bring in DMV booklet DL648 and show them how to do their jobs. Its pretty sad when you have to show a public official how to do their jobs, and not get paid for doing it.
If anybody wants to know the rules, just down load form DL648 from the DMV website and it explains everything in great detail. I guess the clerks at DMV either won't or can't read.

sonny I went through that same issue with the DMV in LA. I don't know how many people I went through before they found enough heads put together to figure out which tests I needed to take for the non-comm class A.

They not only don't KNOW anything at DMV, they don't even SUSPECT anything!!!

DMV is least of my concerns. I have friends...Chippys, that now attain that fiver mentality as many own them. They not only know what they have but what most folks are pulling, pulling with and laws that are applicable.

Now throw that same person in a Black and white, or even worse unmarked and you have a recipe for if nothing else, suspicion. For me, I want to toad my Jeep behind my fiver but know my length is about 69 ft. To the trained eye, that is less than 70 but more than 65 ft. which is what they will cling to. Its the law I understand and my choices are one of two things. Have somebody drive it to Ca border and then toad it or.... leave at oh dark thirty when the hwys are fairly void of the full force of Chps. That is a fact.. very few out at this time of day. If there is a positive side to it, an advantage to travel so early in the morning through the Mojave desert is the heat. What could be 125 degrees may now be 95-98 degrees. I'll take it and most likely, my chances.

I will also most likely not be stopping at any scales as I do not plan on compensated pulling/hauling.

Originally Posted by NEVERSWEAT7

DMV is least of my concerns. I have friends...Chippys, that now attain that fiver mentality as many own them. They not only know what they have but what most folks are pulling, pulling with and laws that are applicable.

Now throw that same person in a Black and white, or even worse unmarked and you have a recipe for if nothing else, suspicion. For me, I want to toad my Jeep behind my fiver but know my length is about 69 ft. To the trained eye, that is less than 70 but more than 65 ft. which is what they will cling to. Its the law I understand and my choices are one of two things. Have somebody drive it to Ca border and then toad it or.... leave at oh dark thirty when the hwys are fairly void of the full force of Chps. That is a fact.. very few out at this time of day. If there is a positive side to it, an advantage to travel so early in the morning through the Mojave desert is the heat. What could be 125 degrees may now be 95-98 degrees. I'll take it and most likely, my chances.

I will also most likely not be stopping at any scales as I do not plan on compensated pulling/hauling.

Put the Jeep on the roof!

Crazy you would say that. I saw an advertisement for a toy hauler that actually had a Jeep on the roof as an advertisement to how ruggedly built it was. The catch was how much was removed from that 4500 lb. Jeep and how much more structural stabilzation took place on the interior of that toy hauler ( think it was a week-end warrior) that wasn't shown.

I know my coach boasts carrying the weight of an 11 ft. fresh fallen snow on roof and slides.. but a Jeep?? Thats a fair trade off I guess

Figured I would chime in on a story that just happened to a good friend of mine.
I believe it was October/November 09'. He was on the 57 freeway near Cal State Fullerton and he got waived over by a CHP enforcement truck. His vehicle: 2002 F350, 7.3, SRW, with Service Body. Its his daily work truck. He had cast iron plumbing fittings in the rear service bed.
What he did not know and what he discovered was his registration had a huge FUBAR. The weight rating was for 6,000 lbs. He orders all his trucks with no bed from the factory. The factory sends them out with the low GVW because there is nothing on them. The dealer he gets them from sends them out for the service body installation. Only thing is the Dealer and the service body company never supplied DMV with the upgraded GVW for the registration.
The CHP took one look at the registration and made him follow him to the nearest scale. Some ten miles away from were he was pulled over. The truck weight, around 11,000+. The ticket he got was $3,700.00. The CHP even threw in a fix-it for a slightly cracked wind shield. Nice Guy.
Anyways he discovered that half of his trucks had the wrong weight on the registration. He has since corrected the weights, but get this. He has to pursue the whole case in Court with an attorney to resolve it.
FYI, the State is broke and they are going to do anything they can to get money. Don’t be surprised that come this spring and summer you start seeing mandatory weigh ins for 5th wheelers, or possibly road side roving CHP weigh stations. I actually say one of these on highway 40 two years ago, about five miles east of Barstow. They were weighing everyone.

That really sucks!! But it sounds like your friend uses his truck commercially, so IMHO, he should have known better.

As an aside, I have to register my truck commercially (not just commercial plates but includes weight fees and the door stickers) , even though it is not used commercially. All F450s have to do this in CA. The lowest weight sticker I can get is 15 (meaning GCVW 15k pounds). How can one get a 6K sticker? It might not require a sticker, but I thought all trucks that are used commercially require a sticker.

What was your friend doing that made this CHP pull him over? (speeding?, no sticker?) I can't imagine someone would get pulled over just to check the weight on your registration. If so he hit the jackpot. I live very close to this area (57 and Imperial). I'll keep my eyes out for these CHP trucks. All this weight/registration stuff is confusing. I'd like to talk to someone in commercial enforcement to get the facts.

Does anyone know a real commercial enforcement CHP person we could get for a Q & A?

i know a couple officers, but none are commercial enforcement. I have searched and searched for answers as well. i have a f550 4x4 with a fontaine bed used exclusively to haul my 40' TH. I know i am over 26,000 pounds GCW. I think i am supposed to have a commercial A and not a NON-commercial A. Commercial handbook says any vehicle or combination of vehicles over 26K requires commercial license, yet the handbook for NON commercial A states nothing about weight limitations. my truck is registered by the unladen weight(9,000 pounds), exclusive to not for hire trucks(registered by AAA after purchase.) Am I supposed to have "Not For Hire" on this truck? I possess standard insurance $35,000 limit of liability, not the $350,000 or $750,000 required by commercial vehicles. commercial vehicles For Hire under 15K unladen requires $350,000 and over 15K unladen requires $750,000 liability.

Sometimes it is cheaper to pay today, rather than get caught later and get these enormous citations at $1/per pound. Better to be safe than sorry.

I have had good luck getting info from the CHP Commercial enforcement unit at the Otay Mesa border crossing. They seem to be the only unit that has there $hit together. I just can't find the number right now.

It would be nice to get one of these commercial enforcement officers on this forum for a meet and greet. This way we can all get our questions answered. Better yet, the book in which these officers have to study. I would personally read it word for word.