Website for DOT rules

[brods]

Time for the TDR to shine. A friend started a small welding company. He has a 1/2 ton pickup 7,400 GVW and tandem enclosed trailer 7,000 GVW. He was totally unaware of the DOT rules, especially if he travels out of state. What is the best, easiest, most plain language website for him to get up to speed? The Michigan Trucking Safety website used to be more clear than it appears to be today. Any better ones out there specifically meant for smaller commercial vehicles / small business owners?

 

[jhenderson]

As with most things governmental, nothing is plain language or simple. I'd recommend stopping by the local State Police barracks and explaining the situation. My experience is that asking for basic info goes a long way in the relationship. In RI we have a compliance officer whose sole duty is regulatory requirements for paperwork and records keeping. He's pretty good at cutting through the bs and telling what you need to know. It's possible you have someone similar in your area. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[Killgore]

I lean towards changingears.com/rv-sec-state-rv-license.shtml as far as licensing. And, like anything dealing with the government it may not be up to date or have some inaccuracies.

- Ed

 

[GAmes]

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

 

[brods]

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

Thanks, but while that site is more fancy than in the past it is still very user unfriendly for getting to the facts quickly and concisely.

Luckily our governor made Mi exempt from the requirements for a DOT number inside the state, but my friend is looking for trouble if he travels to another state towing his trailer. I'll steer him to the Michigan site and he can go from there. Here is an example of the easier to follow format, though the old one I remember from 2012 was better: http://www.truckingsafety.org/Portals/0/Brochures/ThinkACommercialVehicle.pdf

Thanks for the replies.

 

[GAmes]

I have found that most non-govt websites are incomplete or out of date. Yours is certainly the former, for instance; "some or all of the federal and state safety regulations may apply to your company" and "If your vehicle meets the criteria for a commercial motor vehicle, the following rules, regulations and laws may apply to the company, the vehicle and all drivers." May apply? How does that help? I could have provided that much. I guess you could use it as bullet points to search out which rules apply to your friend, which puts you right back at the FMCSA site.

Anyway, more than likely he could avoid all the complications by operating out of a step van type vehicle with a GVWR of 10,000 or less. One of the reasons I continue to work with my '97 is because the GVWR is only 10,500 so that allows me to pull trailers with GVWRs up to 15,500 and not need a CDL. If something were to happen to it I would get a 2500. That would give me a lower GVWR and allow me to pull trailers with higher GVWRs. With a '97 2500 I could legally pull trailers up to 17,200 GVWR. The point is, there are sometimes ways to get around the regs.