Over 10,001 lbs GVWR on pickup an issue?

[Dege]

So I have a Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD on order with my local dealer. When he ordered it he told me he was going to get the 10,000lb GVWR option to avoid issues with the state of Georgia where I live. At the 4 week point in the build the dealer sent me a spec sheet and vin# for the truck. I was excited until I noticed that he didn't change the GVWR but left it at 10150 lbs.

Okay, all that said, if the TV is over 10,001 pounds but NOT used for any sort of commerce, do I have to comply with the Federal (and/or State) Motor Carrier Safety Regulations? The way I'm reading it is if the TV is not used for interstate or intrastate commerce it's not considered a commercial vehicle. I want to know the correct answer before I get pulled over!

[wiredgeorge]

Why not call your state department of motor vehicles or whoever licenses vehicles in your state. I suspect they would be a better source of correct info than the folks on this site. I think each state has their own rules/regs on this stuff.

[Javi]

To get a definitive answer this is a question best asked of the State of Georgia, not an open forum of individuals most of whom don't even live in Georgia.

That said.... in Texas the only difference between 10,000 GVWR 3/4 ton and a 14,000 GVWR dually is the cost of the registration fee... $75 vs $130

I suspect that is true in most states.. I know it's not true in a few like California and a couple of other highly taxed and regulated states..

[flybouy]

Your best bet would be to call your state vehichle registration office or call the state police. I'd trust their answer over someone online whom may have driven thru GA much less know the laws there. JMHO

Edit - looks like Javi types faster than me.

[wiredgeorge]

Call his state? Gosh, why didn't I think of that?

[Dege]

Cute answers I did contact the local DMV and, remember I'm in Georgia, their answer was, "uh, I don't know". My next stop was Georgia DOT. Some guy gruffly said "If you're over 10,000 pounds you are a commercial vehicle"

Except both Federal and state Regs say if the vehicle is used in commerce AND it is over 10,000 lbs THEN it is commercial. I'm heading down to the DMV and talk with them directly this morning. I was hoping I might get some insight here before I go.

Guys don't make assumptions that people are idiots. Be kind and pay it forward.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Dege

Cute answers I did contact the local DMV and, remember I'm in Georgia, their answer was, "uh, I don't know". My next stop was Georgia DOT. Some guy gruffly said "If you're over 10,000 pounds you are a commercial vehicle"

Except both Federal and state Regs say if the vehicle is used in commerce AND it is over 10,000 lbs THEN it is commercial. I'm heading down to the DMV and talk with them directly this morning. I was hoping I might get some insight here before I go.

Guys don't make assumptions that people are idiots. Be kind and pay it forward.

I just spent 20 minutes researching the Georgia registration laws and can't find a single thing relating to the 10,001 commercial vehicle registration other than "IF USED IN BUSINESS"

Call or go into the county office... say this... I'm planning on moving to Georgia from Texas and I own an F350 Dually with a GVWR of 14,000 pounds which I use to pull my RV trailer. The trailer has an 11,200 GVWR; what fees, licenses, and title changes do I need to make and what are the costs..

Should get you all the information you're asking for..

[Dege]

I am sitting at the DMV as I post this. I’ll update on what I find out.

[Dege]

Okay. Some info but not the complete story. Getting the truck registered is easy. No special hoops or anything. In fact I just transfer my old plates to the new. The DMV doesn’t really know anything about the Georgia motor vehicle safety regulations. For a definitive answer on that I think my next stop will be the HighWay Patrol station close near my house. They would be the ones enforcing the regulations on the road and should have the answer. I’ll post what I find out.

[jasin1]

That’s the problem with obscure regulations buried somewhere in a dusty book..10 people will have ten different answers or no answers..I bet if you ask 10 different GA HP officers you would get the same hodgepodge of answers

[travelin texans]

Went through the same BS trying to confirm the need for a Class A Non Commercial CDL in Texas. Got a lot of different answers at the DMV with a lot of "I don't know!" responses. Ask several LEOs & the same answers & responses. The way the regs read if towing for personal use or any type of agriculture it's exempt, apparently if in agriculture you can drive/haul anything by anyone with just a note from your mother by all the exemptions. I wasn't a farmer, but was towing for personal use.
Long story short, for 10 years full-time my Class CM drivers license was no problem!
So sometimes even the experts don't have a clue how to interpret the rules.

[Dege]

Lol, all of the above is true! I did reach an officer in the Georgia Highway Patrol Vehicle Safety Division that told me that as long as the combined weight of the trailer and TV is under 26,001lbs and the vehicles are not used for commerce, either interstate or intrastate, the Georgia and Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations do not apply. The vehicle can be registered normally, which squares with what DMV had told me, and there are no special licensing requirements for the driver. Over 26,001lbs the driver will need a commercial driver's license and may have some other requirements that the officer I talked to said he didn't know off hand. He did say it wouldn't matter if I was driving a 3500 dualie with an extended bed as long as the combined weight was under the limit.


I'm feeling pretty comfortable that I have the answers I need.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Dege

Lol, all of the above is true! I did reach an officer in the Georgia Highway Patrol Vehicle Safety Division that told me that as long as the combined weight of the trailer and TV is under 26,001lbs and the vehicles are not used for commerce, either interstate or intrastate, the Georgia and Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations do not apply. The vehicle can be registered normally, which squares with what DMV had told me, and there are no special licensing requirements for the driver. Over 26,001lbs the driver will need a commercial driver's license and may have some other requirements that the officer I talked to said he didn't know off hand. He did say it wouldn't matter if I was driving a 3500 dualie with an extended bed as long as the combined weight was under the limit.


I'm feeling pretty comfortable that I have the answers I need.

That's pretty much what I expected.. in Texas if the GCVWR is 26,001 or above you need a class A non-CDL license... I have one in my pocket and KNOW for a fact that you must have one..

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Call his state? Gosh, why didn't I think of that?

Your post and Javi's post wasn't there when I hit Submit on mine. Yours didn't show up then, only Javi's so I guess you beat us to the punch but your ISP may be slower?

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Dege

Cute answers I did contact the local DMV and, remember I'm in Georgia, their answer was, "uh, I don't know". My next stop was Georgia DOT. Some guy gruffly said "If you're over 10,000 pounds you are a commercial vehicle"

Except both Federal and state Regs say if the vehicle is used in commerce AND it is over 10,000 lbs THEN it is commercial. I'm heading down to the DMV and talk with them directly this morning. I was hoping I might get some insight here before I go.

Guys don't make assumptions that people are idiots. Be kind and pay it forward.

I think the bolded statement is unfair. No one said or implied nor assumed that you are an idiot. Everyone replied to your post AS POSTED. The replies were in an attempt to help you out for the question you asked. As we don't know you or your familiarity with the question at hand the reasonable answer is to start with the obvious. No one here is attempting to be cute towards you or accusatory in any way.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Javi

That's pretty much what I expected.. in Texas if the GCVWR is 26,001 or above you need a class A non-CDL license... I have one in my pocket and KNOW for a fact that you must have one..

Javi,

Just to be clear, in your statement you say "if the GCVWR is 26,001 or above..."

Is it the GCVWR or the actual vehicle weight that establishes the requirement for licensing?

A hypothetical, I'm driving a Ford F350 with a 14,000 GVWR and towing a trailer with a 15,000 GVWR. BUT, the truck actually weighs 12,000 and the trailer weighs 13,000.

The rating is 29,000 pounds but I'm only putting 25,000 pounds on the asphalt. Would I need the license based on "RATING" or am I exempt from needing the license because I'm operating under the 26,001 cutoff ????

[Dege]

I think the most confusing thing I ran into was finding a FAQ on a Georgia Motor Safety website that had an excerpt of the Motor Carrier Safety regulation but the excerpt only had the portion about if a vehicle was over 10,001lbs this regulation applies. It left out the part about if the vehicle was involved with commerce then the above statement. Going back to it I see the whole page was making the assumption the vehicle WAS a commercial vehicle. Lol it was almost as confusing as my explanation of it.

[Dege]

It uses GCVWR. I actually found a web page dedicated to lawyers and the author was reminding lawyers when pursuing a lawsuit make sure to check the GVWR and GCVWR and not use actual weights because if they are high enough it could turn the vehicle into a commercial vehicle. I guess they can ask for more damages then?

In your example you have to use the GCVWR. Not actual to compute if you are over the 26001lb limit.

Another example I saw was if your vehicle does not have the label inside the door with the weights, the state will assume you were over limit. Crazy stuff.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Javi,

Just to be clear, in your statement you say "if the GCVWR is 26,001 or above..."

Is it the GCVWR or the actual vehicle weight that establishes the requirement for licensing?

A hypothetical, I'm driving a Ford F350 with a 14,000 GVWR and towing a trailer with a 15,000 GVWR. BUT, the truck actually weighs 12,000 and the trailer weighs 13,000.

The rating is 29,000 pounds but I'm only putting 25,000 pounds on the asphalt. Would I need the license based on "RATING" or am I exempt from needing the license because I'm operating under the 26,001 cutoff ????

GVWR of the truck plus the GVWR of the trailer... If those numbers combined equal 26,001 or more you need a class A driver's license... in can be a NON-CDL which is pretty easy to get or it can be a class A CDL but it MUST be a Class A

Now, there is a loophole of sorts... it isn't actually legal but you can usually get away with it... If your truck is registered for less than the GVWR say in my case 14,000 GVWR and registered for 10,000 GVWR ( 8000 truck & 2000 load) then you could argue that it's a 10,000 GVWR just don't get caught with more weight.. Trailer is always going to be registered for the sticker GVWR... I know this because the dealer registered my truck for 10,000 GVWR and I got nailed when I went to get my DL... they looked at the registration and the door sticker...

Easy fix... just go to the county clerk and pay the difference between the fees..

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Your post and Javi's post wasn't there when I hit Submit on mine. Yours didn't show up then, only Javi's so I guess you beat us to the punch but your ISP may be slower?

I am on a 75 mb/ps fiber connection and my ISP is smokin! Just makes me feel like an idiot when the next 17 posters say the same darn thing. I expect mean treatment from Javi but not my bud flybouy! Hope you are feeling good these days.... by the way, when I went into the tax office to register my current camper, they looked it up and administratively assigned a weight of something like 4000 lbs so I don't have to ever get it safety inspected. There is a weight cut off but at 4K lbs, why care? Anyway, sounds like our friend from GA is on the road and cruising although he has more patience than I would have sitting in a DMV then in a DPS office all morning. I reckon Texas may not be as fussy as some states and glad they are not going to make me take a Class A non-comm license test. I took the Class B exempt test and it wasn't fun.