Can a 2500 be certified to 3500 status?

[HBarlow]

In Texas we pay by the pound for whatever weight we want for the truck and for the trailer, each separately.

When I was transporting I registered Ram duallies for 26,000 lbs. because the new travel trailers I pulled had a generic transporter plate provided by the transport companies I was leased to who paid no weight fees. The truck's registered weight had to cover the weight of truck and trailer.

 

[AH64ID]

If you don't tow, how do you licence just the truck in Idaho?



Nick

There are 3 weight's you can pay for. Under 8,000 lbs, 8,001 - 16,000 lbs and 16,001 - 26,000.



It's GCWR, so if the truck is not towing it's the same rating. I pay for the 16,001 - 26,000 bracket, so as long as I don't exceed 26,000lbs I am legal, tire/axle ratings are the next thing they look at. But if you wanted you could register a Ford Festiva for 26K, but non-sensical based on tire/axle ratings.



Also, RV's don't count towards this weight, so if you only towed an RV and the truck was under 8K loaded with everything but the pin/tongue weight you could technically be legal only registerd for 8K lbs, even if the 5er weighed 20K lbs... funny huh.

 

[Road Dog]

On my registration it says: GVWR: 5,400kg but what they really mean is licensed GVWR which means GCWR to the rest of us. You can't exceed the GVWR on the door tag, the GVWR on the trailer frame or the licensed GVWR (truck, trailer & payload) on the registration. Plus the usual tires & axle ratings. The coppers don't have a scale so it's up to the commercial vehicle inspectors to keep an eye on me.

(Some kinds of trailers are excluded from the GCWR -- rvs & boat trailers for example. )

 

[HBarlow]

It depends on where you live and how you register your truck. In Texas, Commercially used trucks can't be registered for a heavier weight rating than on the title. The title can be reapplied for in some cases, indicating a heavier GVWR, depending on the application. There are some papers that need to be filed, and the title has to be resubmitted, but it can be done, here. The person who would know in your area would probably be the county tax assessor/collector. They are the ones who actually deal with titles and registration, and should know/have the proper paperwork, and know if it's even possible in your state. I believe some states require you to be a licensed auto rebuilder or fabricator to get it done, such as a custom shop. In Texas, it requires a signed affidavit of fact and the accompanying $severalhundred. 00 in registration fees and title transfer fees.

I missed your post earlier. I'm sorry but your statement is simply not correct. Texas WILL allow you to register a truck for any weight you choose. I've been doing it for years. Perhaps your local court house title/registration clerks don't understand that.

When you pull your checkbook out at your local courthouse to purchase new license plates each year all you are doing is paying a tax based on registered weight.

What you can actually carry on that truck is limited by the tire capacity of tires on the ground and up to TX commercial enforcement troopers to monitor.

As I wrote in an earlier post, when I was transporting I owned an '01 Ram 3500 and later, an '06 Ram 3500. Each were registered for 26,000 lbs. I registered the '01 for that weight simply by taking my check book to the Lubbock County court house and telling the clerk I wanted to re-register my truck for a higher weight. She calculated the cost of the additional weight, took my check, and issued a revised registration receipt.

When I bought the '06 I told the dealership title clerk who was preparing the title application/registration request form the same thing. Being the typical woman behind a desk who knew all she told me I could not do that, I could only register the truck for "one ton. " I tried to explain unsuccessfully so finally told her unless she wanted to prevent me from purchasing the truck from her dealership she should just do what I said. She was stubborn and trying hard to prove me wrong and called the local courthouse. She was told she was wrong and the truck was registered for 26k.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Yes, but you didn't register the truck itself for that, but for the Gross COMBINED weight, I'm presuming.....

 

[HBarlow]

Yes, but you didn't register the truck itself for that, but for the Gross COMBINED weight, I'm presuming.....

No, your presumption is not correct.

As I wrote, I registered both my '01 and later my '06 Ram 3500s for 26,000 lbs. of weight . . . period. My registration receipt allowed me to actually transport 26k gross. Of course I didn't have enought axles and tires under either truck to physically support or legally haul that weight and DOT would have put me out of service but I was legally registered for that weight and that is fairly common.

No towed vehicle, no combination vehicle, and no combined weight was discussed. My registration receipt for each truck (and apparently in the shared nationwide online registration files because I was inspected at scales many times) showed that my truck alone was registered for 26k.

Also as I explained in an earlier post, the reason that was done was because I was hauling new unregistered travel trailers for hire.

The IN based transport companies issue each leased driver an IN transporter plate to display on each trailer. The trailers are untitled and unregistered and no weight fees or taxes are ever paid in IN or the states traversed. Because of this, the driver is required to register and pay taxes on his truck to cover the gross combined weights. It was a requirement of Horizon Transport, the first company I hauled for because they knew and followed DOT regulations.

 

[AH64ID]

My truck is the same, registered for 26K lbs, wether that's GVWR or GCWR, I can weigh up to 26K lbs.

 

[HHhuntitall]

Well, obviously, you can't carry that, so I thought it was a combined rating. But back to the title, it still shows the factory carrying capacity and empty weight. So how does that change? I know at one time, it required a resubmission of the title.....

 

[HBarlow]

The title is really irrelevant except to prove ownership if we sell or trade the truck. Nobody ever sees the title. My title has been filed away in my file cabinet since it was received in the mail about 30 days after I bought the truck. I pulled it out of the file cabinet and am looking at it now as I hit the keys.

Across the top beginning at the left is my VIN, then year model, then make of vehicle. To the far right is body style.

Immediately under that line to the right is the title/document number then the date issued.

Third line down is model and no entry was made then "MFG Capacity in Tons. " Under that is entered the number "1" meaning One Ton. Next is empty weight which was 8,600 then license number.

Texas is still stuck in the 1950s when it comes to registration and titling of light trucks. Dealership title/registration clerks and courthouse clerks have no clue of the meaning of the old and outdated designations 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and one ton. I noticed that problem ten years or so ago and began to insist that my trucks be registered for their GVWR. I would bet that fully 80% of pickups and light trucks in the state of Texas are improperly registered. The counties and the state are losing millions of dollars in initial and annual registration fees because they don't have a clue. Manufacturers dropped the old 1/2, 3/4, 1 ton designations many years ago but nobody noticed.

Improper/inadequate registration is apparently never a problem within the state of Texas although I don't understand why. It can and occasionally will be a problem if pulling a heavy trailer nationwide. Every once in awhile someone has their registration checked and gets a ticket but they spit and sputter and blame a bad cop without ever educating themselves to the real issue.

 

[MMeier]

Mr. Harvey, does Tx still consider it a "token" tag that goes on trailers "registered" there ?

 

[HBarlow]

Mr. Harvey, does Tx still consider it a "token" tag that goes on trailers "registered" there ?

I "think" so but I say that only because I have seen the Token trailer plates you mentioned. I don't know the first thing about what they are used for or when.

Perhaps they are used for a trailer that is actually titled in another state but used in Texas? I don't know.

 

[glhs]

I called Bayer Auto and of they do no such certification nor have ever had any "problems". They and others I have called just say "we can make stiffer springs to carry this or that... ... ..... ".



That's fine but, not the problem.



The truck will carry what I need just fine as is, I just was hoping for a better door sticker.



I will dig a little more.

 

[HHhuntitall]

I "think" so but I say that only because I have seen the Token trailer plates you mentioned. I don't know the first thing about what they are used for or when.



Perhaps they are used for a trailer that is actually titled in another state but used in Texas? I don't know.

Well, I hope I DO actually know the answer to that... ... Apportioned registration, also known as the International Registration Plan (IRP), is a program for licensing commercial vehicles engaged in interstate trucking. Apportioned registration lets you obtain registration credentials in one jurisdiction, giving you the freedom of interstate travel without having to purchase trip permits. Trailers pulled by apportioned power units require token trailer license plates that can be obtained from your county tax office. Trucks or truck-tractors greater than one ton, with apportioned and combination registration and with a semi-trailer gross weight of 6,000 pounds or more, may apply for five-year token trailer license plates. Legislation passed in 2007 eliminated the 50-trailer minimum eligibility requirement to register trailers for five consecutive years. All owners of token trailers now have the option to register/renew trailers for one year, five years or a portion of the years remaining in the five-year period. (I just got a new update flyer in the mail..... )



ON your title search, in Texas it's called a Corrected MCO, or Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin. In this case, the tax assessor-collector is instructed to request a corrected MCO from the manufacturer. If your truck is modified by a manufacturer, it is possible to have them correct the title. This happened on a wide scale a few years back with Nissan, when their then new-to-the-market trucks didn't come with a vehicle weight rating in tonnage from the manufacturer..... prior to that, custom trucks shops who modified existing vehicles could change title tonnage carrying weights by resubmitting the title. That wouldn't give you a new door sticker, but it would give you paperwork to document your trucks increased tonnage rating... . that's what I was referring to earlier on the title. Dodge did this in the late '70s on custom vans for industrial use. That's Texas... . I don't know if you can do that in WY.

 

[HBarlow]

Edit:

I wrote the following as a reply to glhs's post above but it appeared after the post explaining the multi-state registration system.

"You'll eventually realize that it simply cannot be done just as another member reported early in this thread but nobody faults you for looking until you are satisfied. "

 

[HBarlow]

Well, I hope I DO actually know the answer to that... ... Apportioned registration, also known as the International Registration Plan (IRP), is a program for licensing commercial vehicles engaged in interstate trucking. Apportioned registration lets you obtain registration credentials in one jurisdiction, giving you the freedom of interstate travel without having to purchase trip permits. Trailers pulled by apportioned power units require token trailer license plates that can be obtained from your county tax office. Trucks or truck-tractors greater than one ton, with apportioned and combination registration and with a semi-trailer gross weight of 6,000 pounds or more, may apply for five-year token trailer license plates. Legislation passed in 2007 eliminated the 50-trailer minimum eligibility requirement to register trailers for five consecutive years. All owners of token trailers now have the option to register/renew trailers for one year, five years or a portion of the years remaining in the five-year period. (I just got a new update flyer in the mail..... )

Now that I've read your explanation some of the details come back to me.

I remember the old apportioned registration program being in effect when I was transporting but I thought congress abolished the program during '06 and then failed to produce a new nationwide system for distributing fuel and registration tax revenues between the states. I quit transporting in October of '07 and never read or heard anything further.

Is the IRP the new replacement program and now in effect?

 

[MMeier]

IRP was in effect back in late '05 when I started hauling hotshot, still was going in fall of '08 when I stopped. IRP was strictly for registration between the states you were set up in. IFTA ( International Fuel Tax Agreement ) was for fuel purposes . Both required you to be registered at 26,001 or above, below trip permit time ! My dually was registered @ 34,400 in 11 western.

 

[HBarlow]

Now that I think about it maybe it was the IFTA system I remember as being abolished by congress. It never applied to me because I was registered at exactly 26k and paid fuel tax at the pump.

Has that system ever been replaced or am I confused?

 

[MMeier]

Still going last time I checked . Track your MPG, miles driven in each state, gallons purchased in each state, etc. , file every quarter, sound familiar ?

 

[HHhuntitall]

IRP and IFTA are both still in effect as of February, as that's when the info came with my registration renewals. I don't think neither the states nor the Feds will abolish either any time soon or they would lose revenue. (Per some papers in my registration folder: "IFTA is not a separate tax or fee. It is an agreement that provides for the consolidated reporting of motor fuels (i. e. , Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Liquefied Gas) taxes for qualifying commercial motor vehicles traveling in more than one state or province of Canada. ")

 

[HBarlow]

Yep, it all sounds familiar now. Never had to do it myself but was aware of it at the time.

What system was it that the blowdried suits in DC cancelled? Was that a nationwide apportioning system for registration?

When I was transporting I was familiar with it although it didn't involve me. I remember reading a well written article in a Flying J monthly magazine explaining how because congress had cancelled but not replaced the program states were losing tons of money in annual registration fees and advising those in the trucking industry to expect increased DOT inspections, increased enforcement, more tickets, etc. all in the interest of raising revenues in the states.