More on the CDL & max GVW issue

[MidwestMotorman]

tip of the iceberg

I think what is going to come will be big. I think of the issue as being as important as the right to bear arms. This country was founded upon "with liberty and justice for all" and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " There are those who enjoy guns, and there are those who don't. There are those that like to haul, and those that only have a rice burner for the commute. The one may not care about the other, but being naive can be fatal.



The laws were written when things were simple. Farmers who owned forty acres, and truckers with GVWs of 33k. Now everyone is making a tread toward "bigger is better," and everyone will pay the price. Truckers want to haul more, farmers want to haul more, and the RV'ers want to go farther away with more stuff. The industry has responded with bigger trucks that pull more (our Rams), semis that are likewise, and RV's that are huge. Speed limits are also on the rise.



There was a time when it did not matter that one had a fully automatic weapon or a hundered of them. Now things have changed. Rules of safety were brought up and enforced, and the transportation industry will also be subject to newer stricter rules. But, gun owners could/can lobby their Congressmen and women for their rights. When and whom is the transportation industry going to lobby? Gun owners took a hard hit, as everyone assumed the "right to bear arms shall not be infringed", but that is not the case. Now the regulations are going to hit the people who travel/tow/haul for a living.



Of course safety is always the issue and is the main reason laws get enacted. We can all be conscious of safety, but that does not always help. It is hard to be aware of all the regs when there is so much variance and different enforcement. The intent of the laws can be interpreted differently by all.



Perhaps we need to see who is going to make these new rules, how are they to be applied, and who is going to enforce them. As money gets tight, the state is going to tighten enforcement of laws and the levy of fines. The roads are not cheap to build, and it is not getting any cheaper to operate upon them.



As the noose begins to tighten state by state, just as the anti-gun lobby did, we will see changes in how everyone will operate upon the road. Is it time for a change? Maybe. There will always be an excuse to run overloaded or cheat the logs, but lets not make excuses for why we did not notice the change or did not help to steer it for the best result.

 

[rob10858]

hate to say it...

but ive been trying to pass along that things were about to change for casual and business towers, alike. it just seems that too many accidents are being caused by light and medium duty truck=trailer combos that have no business being on the road. as i've said before we've all been behind some idiot that has to take both lanes on the interstate to control his rig. as far as the new law pending in pa is concerned, forget about it. again imagine the dot in any state having to concern theirselves with private vehicles also. when you get into the cdl class, you do indeed give up alot of rights that most people take for granted. just imagine yourself being pulled over in your family motorhome and having to go back into a dot van and give a blood and urine sample. if you are considered commercial, you have no choice... . its what cdl drivers have to do by law, as well as fewer points before liscence revocation and many other rules that can get you every time. it doesnt apply to about 95% of us, as of now, but keep an eye open.

 

[Mschevey]

I live around Pittsburgh, PA. This is where the accident mentioned in the article happened. In the beginning he says about how 6 construction site workers were killed since he took over the office. Later he tells of the accident here on route 60. In this one accident 5 workers were killed. To date I have not heard an official explanation of what caused the accident.



I feel this is another case of the government using the media to plead their case. It is very tragic that these people died, and laws should be tighter around construction areas. If they had pointed out that there were 2 accidents in construction zones, that killed 6 people, that would not draw as much attention.



Following the accident, all the local construction sites had 'care bears' at them. Because of this pople behaved themselfs while going through the sites. Unfortunatlly this only lasted about a month. Now with no way of enforcing the workzone rules, people have gone back to their bad habits.



I drive though Ohio quite a bit and you can almost bet that there will be a cop somewhere around the construction site.



Mike



(note: 'care bears' are cops who's only job is to watch out for careless drivers around construction sites. )

 

[Eric_77]

Originally posted by B'Gate

I still have not seen a good definition of "registering in combination", trailer and truck. What does this mean. From what I can find out in Texas, everything is registered individually. When I registered my trailer at 16k, there was nothing about "combination", no restrictions, no other questions, and it obviously is not an RV. It is a flat bed with a dove tail. If it makes a difference, Texas does not title trailers either. I have been told by others that it may be possible to obtain a title, but I have never heard how to do so. I just give them the manufacture's name and serial number, as I recall, and registration is issued. For what it is worth, Texas does not even require notarized signatures on car and truck titles.



Again, I researched this topic I think rather thoroughly (sp?) and was told by the Texas DPS exactly what the rules were.

Texas titles trailers over 10k gross. I have one on a homebuilt trailer. think they are required actually.



Also for the combo tag you license the trailer as a token trailer. It was 25 a year but we dropped it about 8 years ago when we got a second truck then register all the truck and trailer gross on the truck. there is not really a combo plate for Texas but that is what is is really. This situation is only cheaper/better for those that have multiple trailers and fewer trucks. I can't beleive PA would require that as the weight is all taxed but things are pretty backward with laws all over the country.