DOT and towing race cars
 

I was going through some old paperwork and came across a couple letters that I received in response to my disagreement with the Iowa DOT and pulling racecars. In this case, it was a friend pulling an unlettered 24 ft enclosed race trailer with his personal pick up truck. He was travelling from Earville Iowa to home in Nebraska. The first letter shows the initial response and the second one after several lengthy discussions with a very helpful Iowa State Trooper. I know that there are a lot of discussions on this topic, but I thought some printed correspondence would be interesting for many of you. Jim.
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Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

When stopped. If asked. You say it's a car. If pressed you say it's a show car. You participate for trophies not cash.
If you blurt out "that's my race car". You might be in trouble.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

Don't place decals on your trailer...out of sight, out of mind.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

James,
I applied for and received an "oversize annual permit" for Iowa and I have one for Florida as well. About $25 ea.
In Iowa I am good for 80', 24 hours a day with no escort car needed. Same for Florida.
I have the name of my company on the trailer 6' x 2' and the company owns the trailer. It is not commercial and it is not for hire. If I win any money it is claimed on my personal income taxes and is no way to be confused with a "commercial enterprise". So far no issues with the decals but I got measured this Spring so I got the Permit. The DOT officer did NOT know they offered such a thing.

Be safe out there and have a great Holiday Season.

Jok

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

Jok, do you have to live in Iowa to get that? My brother got pulled over in our RV tag trailer combo once when we were on the wayhome to Illinois. If I could get a permit, we might get a 26 ft trailer next time. We are at 64 feet but anything over 65 in Iowa would have been an issue. How does a person apply or purchase this?

In the case above that I posted about,mthere was nothing that would idenify this truck and trailer as a racecar. No stickers, not over length. They were just trying to take advantage of their position of power to steal some money. At least the Governor's office allowed for some thoughtful follow up. Don't trust them just because they work for the DOT. They may be wrong in their interpretation of the regulations.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

I have plenty of experience with DOT officers. We move oversize boats all the time. You have to keep in mind that right or wrong He is the law on the side of the road. Most trucking companies just pay the fines rather than travel to fight it in court several times. Jeff Teuton has excellent infornmation we all need. Our Associations should put forth some effort like was done in North Carolina a few years ago. The overlength permits are a good idea where available. Florida's annual overlength is only $20.00.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

Yes. And you can apply for it and do the whole thing online. Plus you don't have to be a Florida resident.
I had one when I had the 48' trailer. It was 68' end to end.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

I would say that is lying and could possibly get you in a heap more trouble than telling the truth. Especially with Law Enforcement personnel.

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

You mean revenue enforcement

Re: DOT and towing race cars
 

More like Revenue Enhancement! If you claim racing as a business you should declare it as such and pay the appropriate fees if they are different. I also believe that there should be some changes to the regulations. My main point was that the local DOT does not always know what they are talking about. If you get stuck, and don't agree, you can at least follow up afterwards and try to, make it right. The federal regs have exemptions that apply to 99.9 percent of sportsman racers, and the DOT is not always aware of this. In this case, I was able to find some good people in Government that listened and made corrections.