WARNING to dually owners!

[Moving Violation]

Pennsylvania has joined the other states in reducing the GVWR requirement necessitating the need for a Drivers Physical Card to operate a truck 10,001 pounds or more. They are going to begin strict enforcement of the law begining June 1, 2005. All pickup trucks are also required to cross the scales when they are open. (Like the scales on I-80 @ 56 mile marker. )

______________________________________

'93 W350, CTD, 5 Speed, Dump, & Snowplow

'98 Tandem Ram, 24 Valve, Auto, 22t Flatbed, Stacked (19,000gvwr)

'03 Quad, Dually, 4x4, 6 Speed, Stacked & Stainless Accessories Oo.

 

[hammersley]

BUT I'll bet this doesn't

apply to RV's or does it?????

 

[lmills]

they have hit three of my friends in MD. All of them have had to go and get DOT physicals and register the trucks for DOT numbers.

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Is this just for the dually owners with trailer in tow , or are they going after regular pick-ups? Are they going after the hot-shots? What is the purpose of them doing this? I know... ..... questions..... questions.

 

[RustyJC]

Thank God for reciprocity. Since I'm not commercial and only towing our RV, if I'm legal in my home state (Texas), reciprocity says that I'm legal anywhere in the U. S.



Rusty

 

[DHorton]

Git-R-Don, I think it is an attempt to put a halt to the illegal hotshotters. They have been talking about it real heavy over the past couple of months. To many hauling for hire, but hiding their signs so they don't "have" to stop at the weight stations. Course that is all just highway rumor.

 

[RustyJC]

Yes there will be separate but biting laws come out for rv'ers soon. But please note this is self propelled RV's! Rusty this is a D. O. T. regulation forcing all of us into "compliance" in their eyes, your reciprocity ain't gonna get it.

We'll see, I suppose. Texas CDL regulations specifically exempt recreational vehicles. I've not seen any case where D. O. T. regulated recreational vehicles, and as a Moderator on iRV2.com, I would expect to see any proposals that were being circulated in that regard.



Now, if Pennsylvania plans to hassle every RVer coming into the Keystone state, I guess the campgrounds there will be empty very soon.



Rusty

 

[klenger]

I have a sister that lives in State College PA, and would like to visit her with the RV sometime. I guess I'll have to park it at the state line and "commute". PA is sounding more and more like the peoples republic of CA, without the sun and beach.

 

[hammersley]

Sounds like the boys on K Street in Georgetown (DC)

haven't paid the correct amount of $$$ yet to get the legislation they want..... or have they????

 

[RustyJC]

The following is posted directly from the Texas DPS website:

Persons Exempted from Texas CDL requirements:



1. Farmer, Rancher or his employee operating a vehicle that would be classified as a commercial motor vehicle, and is:

~Owned and operated by a farmer or his employee;

~Used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery or farm supplies;

~Not used in the operation of a contract or common carrier;

~Used within 150 air miles of the person?s farm or ranch.



2. Persons operating firefighting or emergency vehicles necessary for the preservation of life and property.



3. Military personnel operating military vehicles.



4. Persons operating recreational vehicles for personal use.



5. A person operating a vehicle owned, leased or controlled by an air carrier and that is operated exclusively at the premises of an airport.



6. A vehicle used exclusively to transport seed cotton modules or cotton burrs.

When this changes, then I'll get concerned.



Rusty

 

[JPope]

"... 6. A vehicle used exclusively to transport seed cotton modules or cotton burrs. "



I like that one, we do not worry about that up north

 

[RustyJC]

Jim,



Yep, I LOVE to delve into these arcane laws here in Texas. It really illustrates which groups have the best lobbyists, doesn't it?? :-laf



Rusty

 

[JPope]

Yes, lobbyists, for enough money, they can buy anything!!!



Thread HijackJack :-laf



Rusty, one of the reasons, that caught my eye is that my mother grew up in west Texas, Seagraves, Lamesa, and cut a lot of cotton near there, and one of my cousins did it for a long time near Lubbock. My mom's family moved to Lake Arthur N. M. and guess what, cut cotton there!!!

That was back in the days when you were bad (juvenile deliquent?), you went out and 'assisted' farmers on the pea farm, with the appropriate supervision of course, unitl you decided you had better things to do!!!



This makes me homesick, but you have to do what you have to to survive!!!



Jim

 

[Eric_77]

The 10,001 and up requirement only applies to commercial vehicles ie those that are on the road for business purposes, whetehr it be an RV Pick-up or semi if you are transporting goods for sale, goods for another or equipment that is used for producing income (ie racecar, drilling platform, etc) then you must comply with these laws this has beena a USDOT regualtion for many years but just recently being cracked down upon I beleive due to the high number of pick-up hot shot rigs on the road that have been skirting by regs.



Rusty you are correct on the Texas laws but they are Texas only once you go into Ark, Ok, La or NM you now fall under USDOT not Tx or the state you are in. Here is link to federal website. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

 

[RustyJC]

Rusty you are correct on the Texas laws but they are Texas only once you go into Ark, Ok, La or NM you now fall under USDOT not Tx or the state you are in. Here is link to federal website. http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

The website you cite is for commercial operators. Non-commercial operators such as myself are governed by the Driver License Compact that exists between the 46 compact member states. A good synopsis of the Driver License Compact may be found HERE. Basically, the compact provides that, if I'm legally licensed to operate my motor vehicle (which I am) in my compact member home state (which Texas is), then that legality is recognized by the compact member states through which I travel.



The following example from Wyoming illustrates how member states' Driver Licensing laws are typically written to reflect this:

31‑7‑107. Persons exempted.



(a) The following persons are exempt from the licensing requirement under this act:



~(i) Any employee of the United States government while operating a motor vehicle owned by or leased to the United States government and being operated on official business unless the employee is required by the United States government or any agency thereof to have a state driver's license;



~(ii) A nonresident who has in his immediate possession a valid license issued to him by the licensing authority in his place of residence;



.

.

.

Rusty

 

[Eric_77]

Yep Rusty we are on the same page I didn't know about this accord thing but when in Interstate travel the US gov't takes over and they have said not needed if not commerical or under 10,001 pounds so you don't need any agreement between states if you are not commercial and over 10,001 in regards to physcial, licensing, or drug testing.



FYI that guidelines for adminstrators is 11 years old. I think the USDOT laws and revisions that took place in 2001 or 2 that would make that obsolete.

 

[RustyJC]

FYI that guidelines for adminstrators is 11 years old. I think the USDOT laws and revisions that took place in 2001 or 2 that would make that obsolete.

Actually, for non-commercial operators like me, it's up to the states to agree how they will treat motor vehicle operators from other states - USDOT doesn't enforce an interstate commerce "umbrella" policy as they do with commercial operators. That's why the Driver License Compact was developed - if you'll check the actual statutes in the member states, you'll find that they still use the language from the document I posted verbatim, so it's still in effect and far from outdated.



Without the compact and other reciprocal agreements, each state could arbitrarily attempt to enforce its licensing and registration requirements on non-commercial travelers passing through that particular state. Of course, when that happened in the past, that historically produced feuds where the home state of the traveler would start harassing travelers from the original offending state. Finally, it was agreed that "enough was enough", and the Driver License Compact and other reciprocal agreements were developed. I've pulled our 5th wheels all over the United States for more years than I care to remember and (knock on wood) have yet to encounter the first problem from a law enforcement (state or federal) officer.



Rusty

 

[Bill Stockard]

I've pulled our 5th wheels all over the United States for more years than I care to remember and (knock on wood) have yet to encounter the first problem from a law enforcement (state or federal) officer.



Rusty

Yep, me too. I've towed travel trailers, 5th wheels, and hauled slide-in truck campers for nearly 40 years(RV-personal use) and never been on a DOT weight scale or hassled by any state/provincial law enforcement officer in the lower 48 or Canada.



Bill

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Did you know that in PA , you are to cross the scales, "BY LAW' ,even us pick-ups? As of now, they just dont enforce it..... yet! I went into my local representatives office and asked some questions about this subject. Even they are confused about what is legal and what isn't. But, they did say there was something coming down and would notify me when it did.



They did say something about the intrastate weight requirement was 17,001 and the interstate requirement was 10,001. So, anyone over that from out of state would be illegal and in the state over 17,001 would also be illegal. I was still as confused when I left as I was when I went in... . :-laf

 

[RustyJC]

I will only say again that, for us non-commercial operators, one primary purpose of the Driver License Compact (of which Pennsylvania is a member) and other reciprocal agreements is a "one license/one registration" principle. Without this cooperation between states, I would basically have to license myself and register my vehicle in accordance with the laws of every state through which I travel. Thank goodness, reciprocity ensures that doesn't happen. Again, as a non-commercial operator, these compacts and reciprocal agreements ensure that, if I'm legal in my home state, I can travel throughout the United States without being hassled over license and registration issues every time I cross a state line.



Rusty