The "real" capacity of a 26000 lbs. GVW moving truck

[mystryda]

Preface: I'm not planning on overloading the truck, I'm just curious.

I'm getting ready to move soon, so I'm looking at renting a moving truck, trucks like these that have stated GVW's at or just 26,000 lbs.:

22 ft. - 26 ft. Diesel Non-CDL Cargo Vans - Penske Truck Rental
https://www.budgettruck.com/moving-trucks.aspx

As I understand it, driving a truck with a GWV over 26000 lbs. requires a CDL, but as an engineer I know that things don't often come out to nice round numbers like 26,000. So is the GVW on these trucks understated so that they can be driven without a CDL?

That is, are these the same as a nearly-identical truck that requires a CDL and has a higher GVW?

 

[joshuabardwell]

I think that's hard to judge, because when I look at Penske's used truck sales, there are multiple makes and models, and of those models, they come in different GVWR spec depending on how they are equipped. So if Penske was derating a truck, you would have to know what the trucks' original equipment was in order to find out its true GVWR, and I think that may be tricky. At the very least, it would only be true for that truck.

 

[crazyal]

I use to work for a friend doing nondestructive testing. One of out tests uses x-rays and film to inspect steel for cracks. When he bought a house he decided to move the shop there so he could write off part of the cost of the house against the business. We had to move a room made out of cement bricks with a lead door. Can't remember how many blocks were there but we loaded the Ryder truck way past it's limits. We stopped loading when the squat on the rear tires just barely touched each other. It was a short move and lots of beer (not the owner who drove the truck) for the half dozen of us loading the truck. If I remember correctly we got a little over 1000 into the truck.

 

[Verticaltrx]

It can be variable, but often a medium duty truck is 'built' to haul a lot more than it is legally rated for. Generally there will be a tag somewhere with the front and rear axle weight ratings. As long as you don't go over these you aren't going to break anything. We have an old dump truck that has a GVWR of 24,400lbs, but it has a 9,000lb front axle, 23,000lb rear axle, double frame, and super heavy springs. You can easily load it to 30,000lb gross everyday and never have a bit of trouble, just not legally.

 

[mystryda]

So how does the load of a trailer count in all of this? The tongue weight counts against the GVW, right? But what about the rest of the weight of the trailer and its load? Can I load up the truck so that it weights 25500, and then still have 500 pounds of tongue weight and tow my car?

 

[joshuabardwell]

So how does the load of a trailer count in all of this? The tongue weight counts against the GVW, right? But what about the rest of the weight of the trailer and its load? Can I load up the truck so that it weights 25500, and then still have 500 pounds of tongue weight and tow my car?

Tongue weight counts against GVWR, yes. It also counts against GAWR for the rear axle. Technically, the extra load of the trailer on the rear causes the truck's weight to shift off the front axle and onto the rear axle, but I'm willing to bet this is such a small number that it can be ignored, especially when the GVWR of the truck is so large relative to the weight of the trailer.

Only the tongue weight counts against GVWR because that is the only part of the trailer that is bearing down on the truck. The truck will also have a max tow rating and a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) that cannot be exceeded. It is sometimes the case that the truck's GCWR is such that you cannot tow at maximum load and carry maximum cargo at the same time. In other words, the truck's GVWR might be 26,000; it's tow rating might be 18,000; and its GCWR might be 35,000. To have max cargo and max towing at the same time, you would need a GCWR of 44,000. This is not always the case. Some vehicles are capable of carrying max cargo and towing max tow rating at the same time. You just need to check to be sure.

 

[crbr]

Preface: I'm not planning on overloading the truck, I'm just curious.

I'm getting ready to move soon, so I'm looking at renting a moving truck, trucks like these that have stated GVW's at or just 26,000 lbs.:

22 ft. - 26 ft. Diesel Non-CDL Cargo Vans - Penske Truck Rental
https://www.budgettruck.com/moving-trucks.aspx

As I understand it, driving a truck with a GWV over 26000 lbs. requires a CDL, but as an engineer I know that things don't often come out to nice round numbers like 26,000. So is the GVW on these trucks understated so that they can be driven without a CDL?

That is, are these the same as a nearly-identical truck that requires a CDL and has a higher GVW?

What state(s) are you registered as a Professional Engineer?

 

[RickB]

Preface: I'm not planning on overloading the truck, I'm just curious.

I'm getting ready to move soon, so I'm looking at renting a moving truck, trucks like these that have stated GVW's at or just 26,000 lbs.:

22 ft. - 26 ft. Diesel Non-CDL Cargo Vans - Penske Truck Rentalhttps://www.budgettruck.com/moving-trucks.aspx



As I understand it, driving a truck with a GWV over 26000 lbs. requires a CDL, but as an engineer I know that things don't often come out to nice round numbers like 26,000. So is the GVW on these trucks understated so that they can be driven without a CDL?

That is, are these the same as a nearly-identical truck that requires a CDL and has a higher GVW?

It would only matter if the two trucks were exactly identical, not nearly identical.
And it would matter even less if you were ticketed for driving overweight.
And even less if the overweight violation led to a driving out-of-class ticket.
I'm not sure what the purpose of all this is, but no good can come of trying to out-guess DOT law.

 

[joe t]

I believe it is 26,001 lbs for a CDL.


I've rented a couple of these trucks before and kinda remember that. Might want to check though.

 

[newbury]

So how does the load of a trailer count in all of this? The tongue weight counts against the GVW, right? But what about the rest of the weight of the trailer and its load? Can I load up the truck so that it weights 25500, and then still have 500 pounds of tongue weight and tow my car?

The magic CDL limit of 26,000 lbs is for whatever you are moving down the road. If the truck is loaded to 25,500 the max you can add is 500 lbs, which might be a Harbor Freight trailer and a toy car.

Class A

Any combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 pounds or more if the vehicle(s) being towed has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000 pounds. Vehicles in this class include:
Tractor-trailer
Truck and trailer combinations
Tractor-trailer buses

But that's for COMMERCIAL USE! (That's why they call it Commercial Drivers License) If all your use is PERSONAL just make sure you can document it if they pull you over.