towing weight

[Short Stack]

Anybody know what states require pickups with TT or 5th wheel camping trailers to weigh at the scales? sorry for the first post not complete got side tracked

 

[icman95]

As far as I am familiar with trucking laws (I'm a truck driver) all vehicles of any type are required to abide by the manufacturer's and states' weight limits, however only commercial vehicles are required to regularly pull off at weigh stations. The government gets its authority to do this from the clause in the Constitution to regulate interstate commerce. If you are in your own private RV, that is obviously not interstate commerce that needs to be regulated, so they don't force you to pull in. Get into an accident or other trouble and all bets are off, though. They might weigh you with portable scales to see if being overloaded was the cause. Just because you are not a commercial vehicle, doesn't mean the weight and length laws don't apply. If you are pulling an RV as a transporter from a factory, etc. you ARE a commercial vehicle involved in interstate commerce and you then must stop at the weigh stations. Confused yet?



I was at the local scales weighing my rig once and in making small talk with the lady giving me the scale sheet, I found out that she has heard of RVs being weighed randomly in some western states. She specifically mentioned CA. I'm not sure where she gets her info, but since she's in the business, I'll have to take her word on it.

 

[HBarlow]

The issue of who should weigh is often confusing because many states operate with old and sometimes unclear statutes or language and even more unclear signage. Then some do not enforce their laws the way the signs seem to indicate.



icman 95 said it pretty well above. Everyone driving a truck and pulling a trailer, even privately owned and not engaged in commerce is subject to the laws.



Private owners driving a pickup pulling a recreational TT or 5W, both registered to the driver, are generally not expected or required to stop at scales.



California scale operators or CHP will come out and yell at a commercial hauler pulling trailers for hire with DOT signs displayed and wave you off their scales if you are driving a pickup truck with a pickup bed but require you to stop if you are doing the exact same thing with a flat bed or no bed at all.



Some states have signs out that say "all trucks must enter scales" and some say "... ... ... ... ..... all commercial vehicles. " Other states use signs stating "all vehicles over 16,000 lbs. must weigh" or "all vehicles over 8 tons... ... " and others vary with weights like over 20k or over 26,000 lbs.



Then there is the matter of interpretation and enforcement. Some troopers or scale operators are busier than others and may actually enforce a policy less strict than their signs indicate. During the period I was hauling RVs commercially I found that the signs and expectations of law enforcement was often unclear but I was expected to know what was required. There were some states where I always drove right by their scales even though I was loaded and pulling for hire and others I knew better than to even think of driving by because they'll chase you down and fine you heavily. Experienced OTR drivers know all these requirements from long experience so DOT often expects everyone else to know as well.



Generally speaking if you are driving your own pickup, pulling a recreational vehicle (not cargo trailer) registered to you, you can probably drive by the scales without being bothered. But if you are driving a truck that looks commercial, for example one that has a flatbed or utility body installed, it might be wise to cross the scales and give the scale operator the opportunity to look you over and either wave you on or direct you to come in with documents to prove you are not commercial. There are some scales in some states that are so busy with big trucks that the troopers or scale operators will get angry and come out and yell and wave their arms at you telling you to get the hell off their scales and out of the way of the big trucks.



I guess the short answer to your question is, "who knows?" It's not always clear.

 

[TRLRTRSH]

Well, I will say I've pulled our 5er in WA, OR, CA, AZ, TX, UT, WY, ID, MT, OK, CO, NM, and NV. Never stopped at a scale, was never hassled for not stopping.

 

[georgej]

Yup driven coast to coast and only stopped at one weigh station in northern Utah and that's because it's also a rest area!

 

[JMetzger]

Have pulled our RV across US 7 times and been in all 48 states and never once pulled into a weigh station. They really don't want to bother with RVers but the weight laws apply to everyone.

 

[Dieselnerd]

I agree that it's unlikely you'll ever be stopped to weigh with a private RV. I've been driving my private RV's all over the country starting in 1970 and have never been asked to weigh. I still weigh my own RV's however, and make sure all my weights are DOT legal.

 

[Okie-Go]

This is usually what I do. I usually weigh before starting out on vacation just to see what my rig does weigh.