Minnesota laws regarding 14k vs. 21k gooseneck trailer ?

Scott 730

Well-known Member
Location
EC MN
Jon F or anyone familiar with MN gooseneck laws? My truck has 9.2k GVW. So it is under 26k GCVW with a 14k trailer. How do MN folks deal with the DOT and such if they have a 20 or 21k which obviously puts you over the magical 26k? I see a lot of farmers with tandem dual trailers that are in this category. Thank you.
 
i don't know any answers to your question but i'm also curious on this topic as well as i just agreed to purchase a used 21k gooseneck that i will
pull with my 96 chevy 3500. and what about when you cross state lines? i live 7 miles from IA border and get into Iowa once or twice a year with my
trailer. about 60% of my trailer use is to go to tractor pulls which doesn't fall under the ag category from what i'm told.

my boss ( ag mechanic) just bought a f350 and he has to get his cdl, have a health card, do drug tests, and keep a log book and drug test kit in truck
because he is a business and not a farmer cost him $500 so far and he still has to get the cdl on top of that. he has 21k trailer as well i think
that's the reason he has to do all this don't think its just because the truck but i'm not sure on all the details.
 

This is about as bad a place as you can find for getting good information on DOT regs. Most replies are anecdotal, about what the poster got away with, so there is always a lot of conflicting information which will do you no good. Go to USDOT.Gov. or your local DOT if you want a condensed version. Differences between states are very minor but are made out on forums to be huge.
 
By Federal standards: if your combined
GVWR is over 26,000# you are required
to do the "commercial vehicle " deal.
Under 26001#: No. I'm hearing some
states added to those standards (which
wipes out the "uniform regulations "
that was one reason for implementing
the CDL) . I am doubting those states
can enforce increased regulations on
out of state drivers that are in
compliance with both Federal
regulations and those of their home
state. As others have stated: get in
touch with your states vehicle
enforcement division. Get names and
ranks for reference.
 
There is only one exception to the 26,000 lb rule but it has to do with trailer weights below 10,000 lbs.

But other than that anything with a GCVW over 26.000 lbs requires a CDL.
No if ands or buts about it as it is federal law that all states must comply with it.
 
Go to Minnesota . Gov and there is a farm use law that you don't need a CDl and is good for farm use only and no more than 150 miles radius of home.
 
Yes: there are exceptions allowed by the regulations. Didn't go there since poster did not appear to fall into that category.
 
(quoted from post at 10:03:10 06/17/17) There is only one exception to the 26,000 lb rule but it has to do with trailer weights below 10,000 lbs.

But other than that anything with a GCVW over 26.000 lbs requires a CDL.
No if ands or buts about it as it is federal law that all states must comply with it.

I have a CDL and interstate med card. I should have given more info in my original post. One important question is if MN would require a pickup and 21k trailer to have a valid MN DOT inspection sticker if the rig is strictly for personal use. I guess I'll have to start phone calls to the state on Monday.
 
(quoted from post at 10:20:44 06/17/17) Go to Minnesota . Gov and there is a farm use law that you don't need a CDl and is good for farm use only and no more than 150 miles radius of home.
Trailer would be used for some things other than farm, so farm plates are a no go.
 
Per https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/msp/commercial-vehicles/Pages/mandatory-inspection-program-mip.aspx you do not need a MN DOT inspection sticker on personal or farm use vehicles.

While you may be perfectly legal the problem comes in when you are on the side of the road trying to explain to some officer that has heard every excuse in the book that your 30,000 lb rig is for personal use only. Also what some consider personal is not really personal under the law.
Life was so much easier when a 1/2 ton pickup with a boat or RV trailer was the biggest personal use vehicle you saw on the road.
 
I have a 2003 Dodge 3500 with a 32 ft. gooseneck trailer, and I go where ever I need to and seldom get bothered. I live in Ky and I have bought and sold equipment from Kansas to South Carolina and have seldom been stopped. I also have farm plates. I try to keep it looking neat and tied down properly, I don't stop in any weigh stations uninvited and get by without being hasseled.
 
You can get the inspection forms/stickers
on line. And inspect your rig yourself.
One for truck another for trailer. Not a
big deal. Just a pain in the azz.
 
No answer but another question! My son hauls plant food into Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota. They usually use a Chev 3500 single rear wheels with a dual tandem flatbed trailer about 24 ft long. Someone told him or his boss that you cannot pull a dual tandem with single rear wheel towing vehicle in Mn. Sounds like bs to me as long as not overloaded. They have a 10 wheel Freightliner box truck for a little heavier loads, but prefer pickup and gooseneck. He has CDL and med card. Thanks in advance, Roy
 
Don't see any difference in using a single wheel or duals so long as the single has good ground coverage and a heavy weight rating. Some of the wide, high ply singles will actually have a higher weight rating than cheap, small, low ply duals. (May not keep dummies from passing regulations, however) . Trucking industry has been plagued for years by people passing laws (telling me how to do my job) that could not drive a truck if their lives depended on it.
 
(quoted from post at 15:58:23 06/21/17) No answer but another question! My son hauls plant food into Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota. They usually use a Chev 3500 single rear wheels with a dual tandem flatbed trailer about 24 ft long. Someone told him or his boss that you cannot pull a dual tandem with single rear wheel towing vehicle in Mn. Sounds like bs to me as long as not overloaded. They have a 10 wheel Freightliner box truck for a little heavier loads, but prefer pickup and gooseneck. He has CDL and med card. Thanks in advance, Roy

I tow a fully loaded, 22,400 tandem dual gooseneck behind my SRW F-350. The inspector checked the GCVW sticker on the truck and trailer and told me that I was good. Most of the weight on the tailer goes towards the rear.
 
IF your combined registered GVW is over 26,000 lbs you need a Class A license. If your registered GVW is over 26,000 lbs but your trailer weight is less than 10,000 lbs then you need a class B license.
If you do any interstate commerce and your combined GVW is over 10,000 lbs you need DOT numbers.
DOT numbers for intrastate commerce varies by state. In my area, DOT numbers for intrastate commerce are required at 18,001 lbs.

The best place to find out this information is you're states DOT manual and CDL manual. Talking to people often raises more questions. The introduction section of both manuals will tell you what licensing you need and the DOT manual will tell you if any of that applies to you at all(which if your not doing any for profit work, it wont).
 
The problem is that the laws have gotten so that nobody knows what they really are anymore. You can aak
3 different dot folks about this and you will get 3 different answers. The last time I asked a minnesota
dot officer about this they said any trailer over 10k needs a cdl and must stop at all scales in Mn.

As far as trailers go, there is little difference between a 10k and 14k trailer. The 5200, 6000, and
7000 lb axles are all the same family. The tube, drums, and brake parts except the magnet are all the
same. When you go to 7k you get a thicker wall tube and a stronger magnet. So if you want to avoid a cdl
I would get a 10k trailer with 8 bolt wheels which will give you either 6 or 7k axles and will haul what
you want.
 
If you are going to throw out information like that you should site the sources.
Like I said, the primary source of accurate info is the CDL manual and the DOT manual. That is where the info is. That is what will tell you what you need.
You only need a CDL for a trailer over 10,000 lbs if the gross combined weight is over 26,000.
 
The issue at hand isn't any difficulty in deciphering information, it isn't how complicated it is.
The issue it hand in the internet world is how lazy people are to look up such simple information. People are so damned lazy they wont open up a simple book and take 2 minutes to read it. Because 2 minutes is all it will take to determine what class license you need.
 
(quoted from post at 08:24:48 06/22/17) The issue at hand isn't any difficulty in deciphering information, it isn't how complicated it is.
The issue it hand in the internet world is how lazy people are to look up such simple information. People are so damned lazy they wont open up a simple book and take 2 minutes to read it. Because 2 minutes is all it will take to determine what class license you need.

PF, I brought an argument over load securing finally to a screeching halt a few weeks ago by cutting and pasting about ten pages from the USDOT website.
 
The problem for both you and pretend farmer is finding a dot officer that actually knows the laws, or
cares about them. They frequently go by old laws, new ideas, or some other reg they think applies. And
in minnesota they have a long history of just making up laws to suit their current fad. You might be
able to fight that in court, if you have enough money. A few years back the Mn dot tried to make their
own criteria for putting deivers out of service for fatigue. The lawsuit took years, several appeals
bythe state, and the judge finding the state in contempt at least twice before they gave up. One of the
things that came out of the suit was that the state had never adopted the dot rules, they just started
enforcing them. They had been issuing tickets for decades without the legal right to do so.
 
Stop going to the officers. Finding one will not help! Look up the literature I mentioned. That is the governing document and it should be carried anyways because cops don't know everything.

You carry a copy around and you should be ok.
In the event you happen to get stopped and the cop doesn't know, you can show them why you are legal.
All that said, if you have "not for hire" on your trailer I doubt you will ever get stopped. I have never stopped at a scale yet and I don't plan on it.
I have had a DOT cop chase me down once but as soon as he discovered I was "not for hire" he went about his business.
 
John, I'm nor a lawyer but I do know in MD if your not commercial and are over 26000 you don't need a CDL. You have to get just a Class A. Last year I was late on my Med card and went to downgrade to just a class A till I got my med card. I have a CDL A but my son has just a class A. He can't drive a truck that's commercial. Someone on here awhile back had the regulation on what is required to be under to DOT. It stated that you had to have a 1099 and if I remember you had to make a profit. We don't get hasseled too much in MD being private and hauling your antique tractors. You better not get caught hauling a backhoe or commercial loader unless your headed to your house or farm.
 
John, I'm nor a lawyer but I do know in MD if your not commercial and are over 26000 you don't need a CDL. You have to get just a Class A. Last year I was late on my Med card and went to downgrade to just a class A till I got my med card. I have a CDL A but my son has just a class A. He can't drive a truck that's commercial.
 

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