7,000# vs 10,000# Trailer

[jimainiac]

Yes, thank you, I actually knew that, it has come up before here on other posts and a few jumped all over me when I made the same point. As someone put it "you can't get a ticket for pulling air". Here in NY you actually can. I just wanted to see if others had the same information. And yes NY is backwards. A good Friend of mine has trailer rated for 12000 lbs and was ticketed for "non-compliance" for pulling it with a truck rated for 10000 lbs, gross weight of trailer at time of ticket was 9500 lbs. and he was under on his GCWR.

I guess you can't count on common sense when it comes to state laws, but it doesn't pass the straight face test to get a ticket when the actual loaded weight of the trailer is less than it is rated for and less than the truck's ratings.

 

[JasG]

I guess you can't count on common sense when it comes to state laws, but it doesn't pass the straight face test to get a ticket when the actual loaded weight of the trailer is less than it is rated for and less than the truck's ratings.

I only point this out due to NY has for about 20 years now been cracking down on trailers, and any load for that matter. The fines are not cheap either, $250 - up to thousands. I use to have a dump truck, trailer and some small equipment. I asked about this at a safety class I took. The reason given was excavation contactors would move a machine to a job. If the truck was going to stay at the job, they would pull the tag back with a pick-up if they needed some where. If the trailer had air brakes they would just bolt the maxi brakes off. I guess there were some bad accidents with trucks pulling a 8-10000 lbs trailer with no brakes. It would be impossible to stop every truck to look and see if it was safe, but you can judge if the trailer loaded would be too much for that truck. Funny though I still see farmers pulling forage boxes from time to time with pick ups.
I due realize every state is different and states like NC don't really look at anything. I'm glad to see NY crack down on some of this. I remember growing up it was common to see a pick-up with it's bumper a few inches off the ground from being overloaded. Or a 1 ton truck pulling a full size backhoe, 4 x 4 with a cab.
That being said, NY now has in my mind gone way too far. About once a month somewhere I end up driving through a mobil check point. Where you have to slow up and they look at your reg and inspection sticker. About 1/3 of these I see where they pull trucks pulling trailers off to the side and inspect the load. In most cases the trucks I see are just pick-up pulling skidsteers, and CUT.

The reason I think the state is going to far is I think these check points are more about raising money than actually safety. Anything with DOT, you are guilty until you can prove you are not. Some of the rules are open to interpretation. It also leaves a loop hole for insurance to not pay should you get in an accident and one more reason to get sued. Some of the many reasons I sold my dump truck and trailer.

 

[Hematite]

JasG, I've heard numerous horror stories just like you described and even worse because the laws are intentionally made to be vague in NYS just to, essentially, make money for the State.

When I renew my NYS trailer registration, I'm going to de-rate it to the towing capacity of the truck. I'm never going to carry more than the truck towing capacity anyway so why continue to be a target for the State Police?

 

[JasG]

JasG, I've heard numerous horror stories just like you described and even worse because the laws are intentionally made to be vague in NYS just to, essentially, make money for the State.

When I renew my NYS trailer registration, I'm going to de-rate it to the towing capacity of the truck. I'm never going to carry more than the truck towing capacity anyway so why continue to be a target for the State Police?

As long as your not to far over I don't think they will care, but registration does not matter in NY. I had a 15 ton trailer that I only registered for 12 due to that was well over the largest load I hauled, why pay the state any extra. The DMV clerk told the tow vehicle had to be able to haul the GWR of the trailer. When I had my dump truck and trailer they went by the tag on the trailer at one of these DOT stops. They told me they didn't care what I had it registered for.

I posted a link to a trucking section of a heavy equipment forum here a while ago. Most of the complains were from people getting stopped in NY.

I wonder what they would do if the tag was removed from the trailer??

 

[Duffster]

JasG, I've heard numerous horror stories just like you described and even worse because the laws are intentionally made to be vague in NYS just to, essentially, make money for the State.

When I renew my NYS trailer registration, I'm going to de-rate it to the towing capacity of the truck. I'm never going to carry more than the truck towing capacity anyway so why continue to be a target for the State Police?

Is that enough just to reduce the tag weight?

If it is then your laws make even less sense.

Edit: I didn't see JasG respnse when I posted this.

 

[Duffster]

I wonder what they would do if the tag was removed from the trailer??

The wording in the federal regs say they can estimate the GVWR.

It even says that the only reason to remove the tag is to dodge the law, more or less.

 

[Hematite]

So, I guess that in NYS we're at the mercy of the enforcement officer and his interpretation of the purposely ambiguously worded laws.

To illustrate how bad it is in NYS, the owner of store that sold me the trailer asked a dozen different enforcement officers about a particular section of the law and he got 12 different interpretations! Now that's bad!

 

[flusher]

As long as your not to far over I don't think they will care, but registration does not matter in NY. I had a 15 ton trailer that I only registered for 12 due to that was well over the largest load I hauled, why pay the state any extra. The DMV clerk told the tow vehicle had to be able to haul the GWR of the trailer. When I had my dump truck and trailer they went by the tag on the trailer at one of these DOT stops. They told me they didn't care what I had it registered for.

I posted a link to a trucking section of a heavy equipment forum here a while ago. Most of the complains were from people getting stopped in NY.

I wonder what they would do if the tag was removed from the trailer??

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I checked out the PJ 14K GN dual axle deckover flatbed trailer. PJ offers an option to derate this to 10K so it's legal in CA with a basic class C license. If I understood him correctly, PJ changes the 14K tag to a 10K tag as part of this option. I neglected to ask the sales guy if the axles were changed from 7K to 5K or whether the 7K axles were somehow derated.

Do the mounties look only at the trailer GVWR tag, or do they check the axle markings also?

 

[Diamondpilot]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I checked out the PJ 14K GN dual axle deckover flatbed trailer. PJ offers an option to derate this to 10K so it's legal in CA with a basic class C license. If I understood him correctly, PJ changes the 14K tag to a 10K tag as part of this option. I neglected to ask the sales guy if the axles were changed from 7K to 5K or whether the 7K axles were somehow derated.

Do the mounties look only at the trailer GVWR tag, or do they check the axle markings also?[/QUOTE

Easy way to check the axles is 5.2K and 6K axles are 6 lug. 7K axles are 8 lug.

Chris

 

[flusher]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I checked out the PJ 14K GN dual axle deckover flatbed trailer. PJ offers an option to derate this to 10K so it's legal in CA with a basic class C license. If I understood him correctly, PJ changes the 14K tag to a 10K tag as part of this option. I neglected to ask the sales guy if the axles were changed from 7K to 5K or whether the 7K axles were somehow derated.

Do the mounties look only at the trailer GVWR tag, or do they check the axle markings also?[/QUOTE

Easy way to check the axles is 5.2K and 6K axles are 6 lug. 7K axles are 8 lug.

Chris

Thanks for the info.