Cdl ?
 

I have a FL60 Freightliner rated at 21,000 (no air breaks but registered as commercial) and a 44' L.Q. trailer rated at 18,000 registered as a travel trailer. I can see where I might need a CDL but, can I take the skill part of the test with my truck and trailer or do I need to rent a road tractor and big trailer. Tried calling around and can't find out anything...........Thanks for any input

Re: Cdl ?
 

Bob, when you say the truck is registered Commercial I think a CDL is required.
If it was registered as an RV you could get by with a class A or possibly even a class C.
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do as the driver license people are sometimes a real bear to deal with.
Just My 2 Cents and that is all it is worth.
Rick Cates

Re: Cdl ?
 

it used to be you take the road test with the piece of equipment you will be driving as far as i know

Re: Cdl ?
 

i know you are in a diff. state but in MD they measure what combination you bring and adjust the skills course from there. 3 parts to cdl. pre trip, skills, and road drive w/ officer. takes about 2 hours. and this is just the license part. you also have to pass air brake and any other "written test" on computer now....let me add, it is not as easy as one may think, go to dmv and get a book, best place to start. even if you don't need a cdl, its still nice to have and you will learn a thing or two . also if you do need a cdl, then you may need a medical card. i have mine done same time as my nhra physical is due, most docs will do them at the same time, for $10 or so extra. just a few of my thoughts....

Re: Cdl ?
 

Well, I did pick up the CDL booklet and have been reading this. I'll be sure that I know everything in the book before taking the test. I was just wondering if I could take the driving test in my truck or if it had to be theirs (if they rent them)
Another thing, if this is NOT for profit are they really mandatory. And if they are do ya need a DOT #.

The lady at the DMV told me that a CDL was not needed because the truck was under 26,000lbs but because of the GVW it gets registered as a commercial truck. The truck isn't the problem it's when I hook up the trailer and the weight goes up to 39,000 that I get worried. Tried the RV route but she had no part of that........

Thanks for the reply's.

Re: Cdl ?
 

is this mandatory? ask 10 people you will get 10 diff. answers, lot of grey area, better safe than sorry. best bet is ask weigh station personnel in your state, still gonna get diff answers. and yes you SHOULD be able to take the test in your truck/trailer. it does not have to be traditional over the road type tractor trailer. sorry, all i can offer...

Re: Cdl ?
 

Thanks guy's

Re: Cdl ?
 

I let someone use my Crew cab dually and 44'GN Haulmark to take thier cdl test (truck 12K gvw Trailer 21K gvw). He could not do the air brake part so he ended up with a class A license without air brake endosement. Then he went back with a dump truck that he borrowed from someone else and they just made him do the pretrip and written test for the air brake endorsement. I just added doubles/triples. Hazmat and tanks to mine so I can haul fertlizer and they just made me take the written tests and back ground stuff for the Hazmat. Here in the great state of Illinois it makes no sense how and why they decide when you do skills tests and when you dont. So the short awnser is no you dont need a semi to get it here. As for if you need it or not. If you are able to get it, get it. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. My Toter is regestered RV but I will not let anyone drive it without a cdl. I figure if we get any crap about regestered RV we can always say we are legal to drive a semi anyways because of our class A cdl and medical card. Where as if they give us a hard time and we dont have a cdl they will hit me twice as hard. By the way if you get busted without a cdl (in a truck that requires it)under federal law they can impose up to a 25,000 fine on the driver and up to 250,000 dollar fine on the owner of the truck.

Re: Cdl ?
 

Bob,
I have been preparing for my CDL here in TX. After talking with the State Troopers, here are some of my findings.
1. In TX, your are required to have a CDL class B, for any single vehicle (no trailer) if the GVW is over 26,001#. even an RV.
2. If the combination of vehicles (truck and trailer) is rated over 26,001# then you are required a CDL class A.
3. If the trailer is over 10,000# you are required a CDL class A.
4. If the nature of what you are doing involves "commerce" you are required a CDL class A.
5. They define commerce as being any time you are being compensated for what you are doing. This is where we, as racers, get caught in the system because we race for money.
6. In TX, you can take your skills test in any vehicle that meets the criteria in item #2 above, as needing a CDL class A.
Hope this helps.
Dan

Re: Cdl ?
 

I'm still working on the book part.........LOL Harder than I thought.

Thanks for the input.

Re: Cdl ?
 

And yes they do want you to have a DOT# also. Is your truck registered for the 38,000lbs total or more? If you get scaled they will want you licensed for more than your total weight.

Re: Cdl ?
 

[QUOTE=Phillip marvetz;309500]And yes they do want you to have a DOT# also. Is your truck registered for the 38,000lbs total or more? If you get scaled they will want you licensed for more than your total weight.

Your talking about the truck tags being 38,000 or more ? I took a weight slip for the truck and trailer to the DMV when I had it registered and it was 25,650 and I have tags for 26,000. But the GVW stickers are a total of 38,000 so what do ya go by..........This is where she told me I did NOT need a CDL .

I'm just about to the point that I should have stayed with my 24' and the dually............

Re: Cdl ?
 

[QUOTE=voltdr;309481]Bob,
I5. They define commerce as being any time you are being compensated for what you are doing. This is where we, as racers, get caught in the system because we race for money.

The problem comes from if you claim the expences for tax purposes. If you don't claim expences, but show winnings as income and pay taxes on it, then there is no problem
Chuck

Re: Cdl ?
 

25,650 is pretty close to the CDL limit. A full tank of fuel, A cooler full of goodies, A passenger and the dog and you could be in trouble. How often do you drive by a scale house and how lucky do you feel?

Re: Cdl ?
 

[QUOTE=C and W Racing;309540]Here is the real problem. How do you prove that on the side of the road, and the officer is telling you to park your rig until a licensed CDL-A driver arrives.

Re: Cdl ?
 

or if the unit Truck and or trailer are in the name of a bussiness

Re: Cdl ?
 

Bob Verwold, They go by the GVW listed weight for the vehicles; truck and trailer, not what you have them license for, if over 26,000 you need CDL and log book, med. card, dot #, UCR # 300.00 fine. I got ticket in Ok. in my one ton truck for not stopping in scale, truck licensed for 10,000 pounds, sign showed truck over 10,000 pounds must weight but truck GVW is 11,800 pounds. Tom

Re: Cdl ?
 

Bob, I can tell u about Ohio as I was involved in transportation fora living, and also as a racer. I don't know what the clerk told you, but according to PUCO (the folks that actually will pull raaandom, as well as scale insspections in Ohio)...The point as to whether you need a CDL is taking the combined Weight capacity of the truck itself and the weight allowed of your trailer aand its cargo. If you are using a "Dually" aand a trailer of aany size at all...you will be over 26,000 GVW. The only ssure way around Ohio is to use a non aair brake trailer....and not use a truck. And a good example of that is a Chevy or GMC Suburban. They are actually built on a truck type chassis, but actually tagged as a car or "station wagon". Was aactually told at one time to "stay off my scales" ...it is for trucks. Just my experience. And if you do go the CDL route, u will need a medical card, DOT no on your truck....aand must maaintain hours of service.e.g. LOG BOOK.

Re: Cdl ?
 

This whole thing started with me wanting to be safer on the road. My 1 ton crew cab dually was registered as non com, it was still over weight with the 44' trailer, but I just used it that way. Going to the bigger truck (Freightliner) I felt safer on the road and this truck handles the trailer like it isn't there. But this truck is registered as a commercial truck, this puts me in another bracket. That said, none of this circus is registered in a company name, it's all personal.
I understand that if I was doing this for a living I'd need all the numbers. log book and med card. But just going to several races, well you know....
At this point in time I'm trying to get the CDL and be legal, because I'm not buying another truck and not wild about the $1,000 tickets or waiting on the side of the road for another driver. So thanks to all that posted with information.

Re: Cdl ?
 

The whole thing is this. If it is over 10,001 lbs and used in comerical buss it is required to have a US DOT # this brings in the CDL, Log Books, Medical card, drivers test and on and on read section 391.2 of the Federal Requirements. sorry about thge spelling