Overall toterhome / trailer legal length

Planning on building / buying a toter, just wondering if any of you have some input on over all length restrictions that ya know of; certain states? certain hwys?
My trailer is a 42' fifth wheel, don't want to get something I can't use.
The federal hwys websites don't tailor to race / rec trailers.
Thanks!
Clif
cbakx@tristarag.com

 

you have opened a can of worms. each state has it's own requirements and then it gets changed based upon the cdl - non cdl requirements. the surprises come for drivers when you meet your home state regulations and then you get stopped in a state with more restrictive regulations. there are too many answers for your question - again the answer is based upon the state you license and drive in. awb

 

toter

even within a state it is as if these guys go to different schools, must be personal discretion with the dot guys, i pulled my rig 40 toter, 44 trailer right into my closest weigh station went in got the head guy and asked what i had to do to be legal because i had heard so many conflicting answers, he goes in comes back out with the huge book (i said oh crap to myself what have i got myself into) well he looks through it for about 5 minutes looks up says does it have living quaters, so after showing him everything says im legal nothing to do as long as its registerd as an rv. 1 week later pulled over not 30 miles from the same weigh station luckily got a warning but this guy tells me if im racing for as so much as a trophy its considered commercial and i have to have the whole 9 yards, so i guess the answer to your question is good luck!!!!!
don

 

One of the camper sales places used to have a list of truck and trailer lengths by state. I can't remember where though. If my memory serves me correct most where 65ft front bumper to back (over all length). It didn't matter commercial or recreational. Of course there were special exeptions in some states that were longer and some states had longer standard lengths. Florida may have been 55ft. I think it may have been camper world or something similar.

 

length

I went through this myself. 65' is the legal length in nearly all states. FL is shorter but I don't remember the length. But, you know as well as I do that 100% of the teams using a MH and an enclosed trailer exceed this number. So, it comes down to enforcement and whether or not the particular country needs the $$$.

 

Overall Length

I can see the answer is clear as mud.
Here in Manitoba it's 75', but pretty much all our racing is state side, so who knows what / who we'll run into.
Using my 42' fifth wheel, allowing for 5' clearance up to back of toterbox, adding about 10' for front bumper to back of cab, that leaves me 8' for a luxurious toter living quarters...(takes me back to seeing how many guys can you fit into a Volkswagon days...). 65 ft is ridiculous; I'm sure 90% of the rigs at the track are longer...
Do we drive at night w/ no lights on...stealth mode?
Or just travel thru the richer states...

Thanks for the replies / input!
Clif

 

I've had DOT approval in IA, but the SD scale which is 1/4 mile from IA told me I was commercial, he let me turn around and get into IA which is where I was going. I've had a different SD scale stop me to weigh, call me in, give me the question game and let me go.
Originally it was a SD registered RV, until a couple years later when SD decided not to allow for "home made" RV's.

Now for 2 yrs we have had a different rig, 76' long, toterhome pulling bumper hitch trailer. We put about 15,000 miles on it in SD, IA, NE, MO, OK, TX and KS. I've never been stopped and I've driven directly past the scale. I think partly because we look like an RV as opposed to others that look like over the road truckers. Some of our competition has been stopped, measured, fined and than they are on there way.

 

Road Train!!!!Traveling billboard!!!!ahhhhhh

Ah Crap, I just bought a 42 ft goosneck and a 89 GMC C70 (topkick) longbed. I live in FL and need to figure out who to talk to. We won't be traveling out of state with it a lot but may go to GA, TN, and Carolina. We have a good 12 ft probably for the living quarters.

I've heard about the bathroom means you can title it as an RV along with the not for hire sticker.

Any one living here who knows for fact I would greatly appreciate the help.


All of this brings me to my next ? If I can't have a rig that qualifies as its own country how am I supossed to get a sponser parked next to the big $$$$ teams.....Anybody know how aerodynamic an alky funny car is on a ramp truck? Bobby Lagana Jr.....any help? I guess the chutes could help stop the rig in an emergency.....

Thanks for any and all help,
Trevor Sherwood
727-364-4368

 

Most states are 65 feet,..
To be registered RV in most cases requires one of three things installed,
..Toilet, sink, stove, shower....

If you are longer than 65 ft as a registered RV, there are no permits allowed for over sized or lengths for your RV`s,
unlike the big boys that are upwards of 88 feet long and run with permits.


VM

 

I was pulled over on the way back from Las Vegas in 2008. I have an NRC/Freightliner toter (has the deck with a fifth wheel plate) with a 53' T&E trailer. He said he saw me heading west and made a U-turn on the freeway to chase me down. He asked me what I thought my rig was, a motorhome or commercial? I threw him my up to date log book, MSDS sheets, permits, emergency contact info and registration. I asked him if he wanted to see my commerical license and medical card. He frowned and said "No." Then he asked me how long my rig was. I told him 81 or 82 feet depending on who's holding the dumb end of the tape measure just as he was unrolling his tape. Together we measured it along side the freeway. It measured 81 1/2 feet long. Then he asks me if I know what the legal length limit for trucks and trailers is in California, to which I responded "Yes, 65 feet."

"Well then it looks like we have a problem..." he says. I replied "Really? Have you heard of the DOT Motorsports Exemption?" He looked at me with a grin on his face and said "Nope, I never heard of such a thing."

"As long as I'm on the correct routes to and from the races the length is unlimited as long as my truck is commercial, designed to carry a load (5th wheel plate) and with my 53' trailer my king pin to rear axle is under 40 feet." Then I gave him a copy of something everyone who travels to California to race better have in their truck file if they are over 65 feet because you need to be prepared to educate the CHP officers at the side of the road. He told me he was getting ready to order a flat bed to haul off my stuff:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/trucks/exemptions/motorsports.html

I told him this information is available on the California DOT web site if he is interested in educating his fellow law enforcement officers. After a few laughs he told me to have a good day and drive safe.

He told me that if I would have insisted that my rig was a motorhome it would have been the end of my trip, but because I run it commercial I was in compliance. FYI, my rig is registed as a motorhome (which the CHP officer acknowledged) but I have DOT numbers, commercial license and supporting documentation and run it as though it were commercial. I explained to him that I tried to get my truck registration converted from motorhome to commercial but the DMV said it could never be changed for some dumb reason (reason is 10% FET tax, which is charged when a commercial truck is purchased new, was not paid because it was first sold in New York as a new "motorhome") which was no problem for the officer.

Supposedly if you are towing with a 40' toterhome you are out of luck because the tractor (power unit) was not designed primarily to haul by the DOT definition.

Randy

 

cost

Randy what is the approximate cost to run your rig as commercial?
thanks don

 

Excemption

Randy,
So as your toter is registered as an RV, but run as commercial, what happens for scales?
'All Commercial Trucks Must Scale'...doesn't apply, as it's reg'd as an RV?
Same for some of the states 'Fuel Tax'?
I take it that when you did get pulled over you were not in California, but that 'Motorsports Excemption' applies everywhere? Or that situation made it appear that you were returning from a race in California, not Vegas.

This is real interesting stuff...

Clif

 

Even though my tractor is registed RV, I applied for and got Federal DOT numbers as they are assigned to the driver/company, not the truck, and they don't cost you anything. I put "Randy Goodwin Racing, Fullerton, CA" and the DOT numbers as you are required to do on the doors. I go through the scales because I am running it as a commercial vehicle and I get fuel permits. If you don't follow the rules all bets are off for getting busted. And many states are cracking down in the name of revenue. I was in California when I got pulled over. Some poo-poo'd me when I said I was doing all this. I would still be stuck somehere between Barstow and the Nevada border had I not done it.

If you read the DOT information the length limit is a Federal Law on motorsports. This all started when the CHP set up a checkpoint just inside California and started busting the NASCAR teams as they came in to race at the Food City 500 at Sears Point several years ago. Someone on the Fed level said "enough is enough" on individual states like Califoirnia popping racing rigs that are legal in about 43 other states as they came across the borders to race their cars.

I have insurance through one of the major carriers with commercial required liability limits except they wrote it as a motorhome policy. I told them I am required to have DOT numbers on the rig and it didn't bother them. My insurance is $1,200 year. Far cry from what actual bonified commercial policies are.

With the exception of how my rig is registered, which is totally out of my control, I am in complete compliance with every other aspect of running it as a commercial vehicle. I have a commercial license and don't let anyone drive it who doesn't. I have a current medical card, I ALWAYS keep an up-to-date driver's log book (obviously saved my butt) , I have the MSDS hazardous materials disclosure sheets (MSDS sheets for oil and fuel are easily printed off the internet by going to VP Racing Fuels, Valvoline, Lucas or whatever fuel and oil brands you have in the trailer), a sheet with maximum quantities of fuel and oil listed in the MSDS sheets in your rig and my emergency contact numbers as required (you never want to have more than the quantities of fuel and oil stated on this sheet in your rig or it's a potential for big trouble). MSDS sheets are required to help aide emergency vehicles if you have a wreck or fire so they know what they are dealing with. Do you think Greg Anderson's driver had to produce them last week as their rig buirned to the ground on the I-10 freeway?

Helps in an audit, too.

 

Valuable Info

Thanks Randy , For enlightening ? , Us all out here !

 

thanks

ditto here too
don

 

Hey, not up to date on motorhomes, buy i have a ford dually pickup with a 3 axle 48' trailer and everyone has told me to put NOT FOR HIRE on my truck. i put it on, dont know if it helps or not. but going to new york, they used to charge me commercial tolls and the guy did tell me if i had not for hire on my truck, they wouldnt have.

 

CHP officer once told me a vehicle with "Not For Hire" on it really said "Pull me over, I am improperly registered."

 

idk, but i know to get to long island with my dually truck and 3 axle trailer cost me the same price as a commercial tractor trailer which is bs and the guy told me if i had NOT FOR HIRE on the truck it would have been half. i'm in pa, and never been bothered either way. as long as you arent driving like a jackass, most the cops are just as iggnorant as we are with these laws. i drive tractor trailer also so i have a cdl's and i dont worry with the dot officers. just be nice to them when they pull you over and dont be a smartass and you all will be fine...

 

Greg Oliver got pulled over in a Chevy dually crew cab towing a 39 foot 2 axle fifth wheel Chaparral trailer for a registration check on Santa Fe Springs city streets. He got a ticket for no commercial license. He showed up in court on his court date and the officer didn't, so he walked on it.

 

toter

But is it not true that your good up to 75' on all the Interstate hwys? There are a lot of tractor/trailer outfits longer than 65', and I see 4 dr 4x4 pick ups, with a long fifth wheel RV trailer, AND a boat behind that yet too, rolling down these roads!