Warning ticket , which brings up another question

[Superdave]

Got pulled over by Texas DPS weights and measures trooper yesterday. He informed me that my dually had to hace mud flaps. I just bought this truck( my 4th dually by the way ) and looked and sure enough - no mud flaps ! It's the law in Texas, duh. I just overlooked it and got new ones yesterday. did realize the truck had just been inspected with no mud flaps which is a no-no. fortunately he was super nice and just gasve me a warning ticket. He then asked about the RV trailer since I had a new companion hitch that he noticed , which led him into a series of questions about the size and weight of my fifth wheel. should the combined weight tating of the truck and trailer go over 26,000 pounds he said i'd have to convert to a class A license. Having had a commercial license in Texas for years , I knew this type of info, but it got me thinking , an I can't find where it states in the paper work waht the trailer's gross weight rating actuially is.

I'm thinking that I've seen that the larger Montana's have 7000 lb axles, so that would put it at 14,000 lbs wouldn't it ? if your dually is rated over 12,ooo , this would require a class A .
I've not seen anything on this topic so I thought I'd put it out there for comment .

My opinion is I'd rather take a hit on the license error than the good chance I'll be over weight from a technical point of view. Has anybody had the Tahoe Troopers pull the portable scales out and weigh them on the side of the road?

Fire away boys, I love the comments !!

[Trailer Trash 2]

So if I were to drive through Texas, and not a citizen of Texas, I could get a ticket for not having mud flaps? or is that for residences of Texas only.

[Delaine and Lindy]

That is true you have to have Mud Flaps if your registered in Texas. And its just a matter of time before everyone pulling a 5th wheel over a certain weight will have to have some kind of special Lic. to operate certain types of RV. Think Money thats the key, but they will say its for safety. You hear those certain words that are always used. Thats the reason I keep my expensive Class A (CDL). And my state doesn'g require me to have a Class Lic with the Truck I have, but if I pull something and its(Commerical for hire) I must have Class A. Do you have to take a physcial when you get your Lic.? I do recomend the Dura Flap for the best flaps for your money. GBY....

[exav8tr]

Dave, your trailer weight is listed on the Factory plate on the front left of your trailer. Your truck weight is listed on the door pillar. You probably have a GCWR of about 23,500, that's what MOST of the duallies have, give or take a few....7k axles just support the trailer weight, then there is the pin weight. Hopefully you do not have 14,000 over your axles because you have another 2-3k of pin weight. AZ has the same law in regards to mud flaps.....

[helmick]

My 2007 3400 (7,000 LB Axles) 15,500 GVWR.

[Superdave]

I got rid of my class A when i got a u-turn ticket in Houston and found that I couldn't take a defensive driving course to get the ticket dismissed. I had to go to court to do that. The problem with having them is you are held to a much higher expectation of responsibility ( and rightly so ) and if driving for someone professionally , you can't get minor tickets to go away by taking the defensive driving classes. Since I no longer had my company and didn't need the lic. , I turned it in for a regular one.
I did not have the Air-brake license, so I didn't have to have a physical. you do for that part of a CDL.
I'm thinking if you get pulled over in Texas w/o mud flaps, you might get a warning. The truth of the matter is the Tahoe Troopers are geared for looking at everything from their standpoint of weight and vehicle and load violations. A regular trooper is not as particular and picky . It's just not his usual area of expertise. He pulled you over for speeding or throwing a chicken out the window or whatever, not because he thinks your tires look loaded !
My dodge is rated at 11,500, with a 15,500 trailer, I'm a robust 27,000 pounds and legally have to have a class A. since RV motorhome drivers are excluded from commercial license regulations, i'm going to check on how fifth wheel drivers are regarded. seems to me this should be an industry topic, with weight ratings being over stated on the newer vehicles and the new ford 450 and the new Dodges that are coming out with 16,000 plus ratings. One could easily be at 30,000 pounds.

[H. John Kohl]

PA took the gross of truck and trailer added together which is 12000 and 14400 = 26400. So I registered the combined weight for the truck at 26000 not requiring a Class A CDL. I did have to list an empty weight for the combined and used 21000 for that.
I can take a driving test and get a non commercial Class A CDL. Think I will do that this year.
Based a post a couple years ago about Texas requiring mud flaps on duals I got mine.

[Art-n-Marge]

If your dually had the type of mudflaps that attach to the hitch receiver and extend to either side to cover the tires, will this suffice? I suppose it would be best not to get removable ones and not worry about it. Does this ruling include the front wheels, too?

There was another MOC topic of discussion regarding California. I guess I learned that with my RV with a 14,200lb rating means that all I need is the RV endorsement with my Class C license. I need to take a test regarding towing, weight considerations, all the safety concerns and componets of the RV and truck and knowing how everything works. If my GTWR was over 15000 lbs then I would need a driving version of this test, too. If my CGWR was over a certain amount then I would need a full bore Class A RV license including the driving test and medical clearance. I think this is how it works in CA. I suppose many states have some kind of requirement. I'll need to check about the mudflaps (rock guards), but I don't recall this being part of the requirement.

So much more to learn.

Good ole Texas.... Gun racks and mud flaps!

[farmboy]

I was just reading the Indiana Book for a CDL lic. and it said the rvs were exempt from the weight limits. So all this posting has me thinking that a state makes it own rules in this dept. Right? It also said that farmers were exempt also from CDL requirements on any size vehicle as long as not for hire and less than 150 miles from the farm. Crazy world out there.

[HamRad]

quote:Originally posted by Trailer Trash 2

So if I were to drive through Texas, and not a citizen of Texas, I could get a ticket for not having mud flaps? or is that for residences of Texas only.

Don,
The answer is yes. You can get a ticket. Ask me how I know! And unless the law has changed Texas and California do NOT have a reciprocal agreement. That means that the trooper can ticket you and then require you to follow him to the nearest Justice of the Peace. There you will immediately be given an opportunity to deal with your violation.

That is, you will be required to immediately pay the fine for your violation. I was lucky the day I got stopped (for speeding) was Sunday and no judges were available. He could have ticketed me and
had me stay overnight to deal with the judge the next day. Luckily he just told me to slow down and have a nice trip.

Guess I'd better get the mud flaps on the old dually.

Dennis

[Superdave]

just found this web site
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-state-rv-license.shtml
it gives a review of all 50 states rv license requirements . Take a look, I'm going back to it to see what I'm gonna do.

[snfexpress]

While ignorance is no excuse for violating the law, as a former LEO I routinely issued verbal and/or written warnings for those out of state motorists who violated my state's traffic laws - the primary part of our job as peace officers is to educate. A fix-it ticket (written warning) created an inconvenience for the motorist because he/she had to get the problem corrected and then find a peace officer who would sign that the infraction had been corrected and which then had to be submitted to our local judiciary by a specific date, typically 10 days.

[Army Guy]

As far as Texas goes, I bought my truck there and the dealer had to add mud flaps because he stated I could not leave there without them - Texas law. Looks like he was taking care of me.

[ols1932]

Does that only apply to dually's? I've passed all state inspections with my F-250.

Orv

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by ols1932

Does that only apply to dually's? I've passed all state inspections with my F-250.

Orv

In Texas it only applies to duallys, not SRW.

[junglejim]

Not to stray to far from topic at hand, But my 2cents is all states need to have the same DL requirements and traffic laws with the exception of weather related laws for the differant climates.

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by Superdave

just found this web site
http://changingears.com/rv-sec-state-rv-license.shtml
it gives a review of all 50 states rv license requirements . Take a look, I'm going back to it to see what I'm gonna do.

This link provides another link to the Texas Driver License Handbook. That handbook seems to limit a class C license as only good for towing a trailer under 10,000 lbs. However, that is an error. The actual state statute defining license requirements does not have that limitation. Whoever wrote the handbook added some extra wording for the class C definition that is not included in the actual statute, sections 521.081, 082, 083.
So if you happen to get ticketed in Texas for being under 26,001# GVWR but towing greater than 10,000#, check the actual state statute.
Texas Drivers License Stature
Hopefully the troopers go by the statute rather than the handbook.

[Waynem]

Ah! Texas! I love her.

From the Texas Handbook:

"9. Mud Flaps. All trucks and trailers with four or more tires on the rear axle
must be equipped with safety guards or mud flaps behind the rear wheels.
These flaps must reach to within 8 inches of the surface of the highway and
are for the purpose of preventing the slinging of mud and slush. This provision
does not apply to pole-trailers or to a truck-tractor when it is being operated
alone and without being in combination with a semi-trailer."

But it is in the commercial section. Hmmm!

[exav8tr]

quote:Originally posted by Waynem

Ah! Texas! I love her.

From the Texas Handbook:

"9. Mud Flaps. All trucks and trailers with four or more tires on the rear axle
must be equipped with safety guards or mud flaps behind the rear wheels.
These flaps must reach to within 8 inches of the surface of the highway and
are for the purpose of preventing the slinging of "mud and slush". This provision
does not apply to pole-trailers or to a truck-tractor when it is being operated
alone and without being in combination with a semi-trailer."

But it is in the commercial section. Hmmm!

Wayne, What about dem "Lone Star" cans?????

[Waynem]

The drink? Been around a very long time.