Understanding Curb Weight, GVWR, Towing and CDL requirements

[screamin400]

I paid 2350 and supplied the truck and trailer. I did 6 hours of classroom. 4 hours 4 times of practice and then took the test.

 

[Hay Dude]

What would air brakes have added?

 

[sandman2234]

This Washington state link: WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Types of CDLs
seems to provoke more questions than it answers
View attachment 793652
Class A doesn't cover GCWR > 26k if the trailer is 10k or under.
But, "Washington State doesn't recognize class A passenger vehicles", so what's a passenger vehicle? A bus? Is my crew cab with kids in the back seat a passenger vehicle even if it's towing a GVWR 16k trailer with an excavator on it? I'm guessing a truck is not a passenger vehicle; when it's towing the primary function is towing and not hauling passengers.

Class B is for a truck over 26k. Easy enough to understand. But, it makes it look like towing any trailer 10k or under requires a class B??? I have to think that this is for "a truck over 26k towing a trailer under 10k" (if it's over 10k, you're class A).

The (s) in "vehicle(s)" under the class A is for towing two trailers at once (requires a CDL endorsement, same linked page).

I had a passenger endorsement added to my CDL while teaching in Orlando. They had a bus for teaching school bus drivers, which is a B vehicle. For years my CDL had a restriction on it for "no class A passenger vehicle ". When Florida added additional requirements for school bus, above and beyond passenger hauling vehicles, I lost the ability to drive a school bus, but can drive the same vehicle as a church bus. Somewhere along that time they dropped my class A passenger restriction, so now I can drive an articulated passenger bus, as long as it doesn't have school name on it.
David from jax
All of these comments just show you what truck drivers go through on a daily basis.
Don't even get me started on the completely crazy CSA point system that puts trucking companies out of business!
David from jax

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

I just got my cdl last week in NY state. Here 26001 gvw combined or alone requires a cdl.

INCORRECT....

you can be 36k combined in new york without a CDL. 26k truck alone and 10k trailer.

Not sure why this is difficult to grasp.

IF THE TRAILER IS UNDER 10K.....THEN ONLY THE TRUCK NEEDS TO BE UNDER 26k.

Its as if a trailer does NOT exist in the eyes of CDL classifications as long as the trailer is under 10k

@screamin400 that seems like a big mistake for someone who just studied and tested on this topic.
LD1 is correct, and NYS law appears to be consistent with most other states cited in this thread.
From New York's website:

 

[Bearsixty7]

I paid 2350 and supplied the truck and trailer. I did 6 hours of classroom. 4 hours 4 times of practice and then took the test.

That's not too bad a price or time requirement.

 

[Fixastuff]

That's not too bad a price or time requirement.

I haven't been able to find one in my area like that. They are are full on semi truck based. I'd even have to take a class called the "state if the trucking industry" just to drive my dually with 14k trailer.

 

[4570Man]

Pretty much if you hook a dually 1 ton pickup to a 14k rated trailer, If the pickup was made in the last 10 years, you need a CDL, even empty…

Even older than that apparently. This is my 2000 F-350.

 

[Fixastuff]

One of the guys on the same project I'm working on just go pulled and ticketed by vdot with a ram dually and a 14k trailer. Got no cdl ticket, cracked windshield and some various other ones.

Vdot officer made him leave truck and trailer and get cdl driver to pick it up.

Vdot officer also told him he needed a cdl B license. That is not how I understood the regulations but I called a few trucking class places and they all told me a cdl B would work as long as I didn't go over 56k lbs combined weight!

Cdl B is much, much faster to get so that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

...with a ram dually and a 14k trailer.

Vdot officer also told him he needed a cdl B license. That is not how I understood the regulations but I called a few trucking class places and they all told me a cdl B would work as long as I didn't go over 56k lbs combined weight!

Just when I thought I understood the regulations, a class B license for a combination comes along!

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

Virginia regulations look exactly like other states we've reviewed in this thread. I wonder why they claimed a Class B CDL would suffice for a combination over 26k including a trailer at 14k?