Trouble in Kentucky

Hoofer B

Well-known Member
Is it just us, or do others have trouble with trucking in Kentucky. Every time we go there, we have something or another. One of my trucks got pulled over today for being overweight. Cop told us that, even though he never scaled us. Driver told him the trailer is empty. ( 53" Van). We got away with a warning. ( a warning for not being overweight )
 
Others and I have been warning folks of what is happening on America's highways. There are several things that have created the mess today. The first sense of change was after 911. They felt a need to stop more trucks due to the potential risk of hauling God knows what that could be dangerous.
Then in the mid 2000's, they begin to really catch on to more and more people slipping the system with duallys and G/N trailers.
Couple this with a budget crunch that started in 2008, and you have a caustic mixture of greed on the ticket books.
I would not get on any public roads with a dually and G/N for any amount of money.
I am not going to pay for 1 million in liability, not going to hassle with filing quarterly taxes, pay IFTA, CDL, etc.
It is just much cheaper to pay for a haul.
 
In Jan KSP came to the extension office in Laurel County, and laid down the law. Anything over 10,001 pounds that articulates has to have a DOT#, Fed Inspection, a class A CDL and health card even if you HAVE farm tags! They also said that the days of "put a farm tag on it, and dont do anything stupid" are OVER, so i can only imagine that there gonna crack down you commercial guys too. As far as the warning, all I can say is your driver is a bigger man than me, Ive been pulled behind the scale house a few times in my rail road truck, and im pretty sure I would loose my sh!T if i got a warning for some mickey mouse buisnes like that.
 

# 1 Son drives OTR all over the country "His truck". His last truck was tricked out real pretty with many lights and crome too. It seemed he was gettig stopped often.
His new truck is just a plan jane truck. He told me thet he is getting stopped about 75% less now. Go figure.
 
Many years back here in the Buckeye i was west bound on I 76 just west of the turnpike entrance i was headed for Cleveland and the salt mine to load a load . I was empty i had the tarp on the trailer and i had Bows to hold the tarp up as back then this was not a common thing on dump trailers . I ran with the tarp on 90% of the time . I was in the left lane passen a line of trucks pulling the grade when i hear on the C B that there is a east bound bear just east of Baylie Rd , i check my speed and i am doing 55-56 mph, the traffic i am passing is doing about 52-53 MPH. so i am not smoken past them and i am not in any big hurry to get to the salt mine as it will be backed up till after 10:30 in the morning . Well Mr. Bear see's and i am looking at him . Next thing i hear is hey that bear did a flip and is west bound with the hammer down and lights ah going. Here he comes wright on my trailer and my scanner lights up and i hear my trailer plate Number being radioed in and he says that he would be on the side with me just west of Baylie rd. Well first off i could not get over as nobody would let me in So down the road we go till i could get over and when we got stopped here he comes with a attitude , wrong thing for him to do with me , first thing out of his mouth was give me your driver license registration and BILLS. So i hand him everything BUT BILLS He start to get real nasty with me and asked again for my BILLS and i looked him in the eyes and just shook my head no , he about flipped out and said give me your bills NOPE i said , well we are going to weigh you . OK i said go call 23-24 ( the call sign for the portables . How do you know there call sign ??? Give me a break here i have run BUCKET for 15 years . 23-24 was down by the turnpike entrance on the east bound lane with a old iron hauler setting on the scales when i went by . This bear and i went round and round for a good while and i kept watchen my watch as there is a little knowen law that they can only hold ya for one hour and fortyfive min. Time was getting short for him and he calls the scale wagon to see hoiw much longer they were going to be . Oh guess what that old iron hauler had to shut his truck off so the could weigh him because it was shaking so bad and when they got ready to turn him loose his truck would not start and it lost all it's air and was setting on the scales DEAD . I had this bear so mad he was beet red and swearing at me and for what ever reason he hit the side of my trailer with his clip board and turned and glared at me and said YOUR EMPTY , hey your the idiot that told me i was over . He threw my licenses and registration at me . Then i asked him if we were having fun as i sure was and just think of how many guys got by him while he had me pulled over.
 
it still is different stste to state, the best thing to do is find out what your state reqires and go with that.everybody talking bout one tons and goosenecks, you know what here in missouri i can drive a one ton and a gooseneck without a cdl as long as its under the 26,001lbs.
 
bg/mo you are right about not needing cdl if your vehicle does not go over 26,000 lbs. But if you pull a trailer over 10,000lbs. you need a CDL. This is a Missouri DMV requirement for CDL.
 
So your trailer only has two 5K axles? That is not going to haul much. You do not need a dually to drag that kind of trailer.
 

I pretty much always got a CVSA sticker when I got pulled in, but it still costs you the time.
 
It is our understanding that it is the combination of the two the truck and trailer to get over 26,001.
 
(quoted from post at 05:33:03 03/15/12) It is our understanding that it is the combination of the two the truck and trailer to get over 26,001.

That is my understanding here in Iowa also. I know some changes are coming, but I have no idea what those changes will be.
 
bg/mo this is out of your Missouri DMV. You need a commercial drivers licence (CDL) to drive a vehicle more than 26,000 pounds, a trailer more than 10,000 pounds, a transport vehicle ( pass. Bus), or a hazardous materials vehicle. I live in Indiana and ours is worded the same as yours. But Iowa words theirs a little differant and could be interpreted differant. Thats why I say that these states need to get on the same page so you can go from one state to another with no problems.
 
(quoted from post at 08:22:46 03/15/12) bg/mo this is out of your Missouri DMV. You need a commercial drivers licence (CDL) to drive a vehicle more than 26,000 pounds, a trailer more than 10,000 pounds, a transport vehicle ( pass. Bus), or a hazardous materials vehicle. I live in Indiana and ours is worded the same as yours. But Iowa words theirs a little differant and could be interpreted differant. Thats why I say that these states need to get on the same page so you can go from one state to another with no problems.

What I don't understand is "a trailer more than 10,000#" How does one go about DRIVING a trailer? And what difference does it make how much that trailer weighs?

If you are USING a trailer, won't that trailer be hitched to your truck? And if it is hitched to your truck, does it not then become a "combined" vehicle? And since it is now a combination truck and trailer, does not the GVCWR apply?
 
Rustyfarmall I only wrote down what was in the Missouri DMV site.In my opion the states need to get together and set up vehicle laws and CDL requirements that are the same so we can go from state to state and be legal.
 
(quoted from post at 10:15:17 03/15/12) Rustyfarmall I only wrote down what was in the Missouri DMV site.In my opion the states need to get together and set up vehicle laws and CDL requirements that are the same so we can go from state to state and be legal.

No, I wasn't picking on you. I've read the same thing in other places, but I just can't make any sense of it. I also don't understand why the individual states need to set their own rules because the FEDERAL D.O.T. pretty much already has it covered.

Just color me confused!
 
rustyfarmall don't fell bad your not the only one alone in being confused.I don't need to worry about CDL I kept mine after I retired after 38 years of driving semi for a common carrier. I did drop the Haz .Mat
 
(quoted from post at 11:25:46 03/15/12) rustyfarmall don't fell bad your not the only one alone in being confused.I don't need to worry about CDL I kept mine after I retired after 38 years of driving semi for a common carrier. I did drop the Haz .Mat

Yes, I kept the CDL also, but haven't had a medical card for several years, and now I'm hearing rumors of a new law that basically says if you have a CDL, you WILL have a medical card. I'm sure I could get a card again, but gee whiz, all I want to do is maybe haul a tractor to a show, or maybe attend an auction and bring home a new project. Guess I may as well sell both the dually AND the trailer and get a bicycle.
 
One great thing about living where I do, is all the tractor pulls are on Saturday and the DOT is too lazy to work weekends in the states I travel in. I talked to a DOT guy the other day and he said that was one thing he really liked about his job, he has all the weekends off.
 
Rustyfarmall here in Indiana if you don't get your medical card renewed ever two years they will pull the CDL and you than only have a regular drivers license. I have diabetes and have to renew mine every year. I see my doctor evert three months.
 
d beatty
From what I am reading you believe that you need a CDL in Missouri if you pull a trailer over 10,000 even though the total rig is under 26,000 lbs.

If I am reading this correct please help me out.
Go to the link I provided.........
<a href="http://dor.mo.gov/forms/Commerical_Driver_License.pdf">Missouri CDL manual</a>
Go to page 1-1 and take the test on the right side of the page and tell me how you come up with that thinking.

Pick a state. Any state. And the only way you need a CDL if the truck/trailer combo is under 26,000 lbs is if you have 16 passengers spots or you haul haz mat. You do not even answer the question of what size trailer you have unless you can answer yes to it is over 26,000 lbs total.
 
You are reading it wrong. The very first question is Does the vehicle or
combination of vehicles have a manufacturer’s weight rating (GVWR) over 26,000 pounds?
If the answer is NO, then if it under 16 passenger and no hazmat, you do not need a CDL. Trailer weight does not matter.

Iowa has the same rules. It amazes me how everyone reads the rules incorrectly. I have a 11,500 dually truck with a 14,000 lb trailer. It is under 26,000 so I do not need a CDL.

Also, I do not farm, so this is a hobby for me and I haul my own personal property. There is no way for me to even get a DOT#. The first question on the DOT application is what is your business name? I have no business.

They are cracking down on farmers, which is a business. If you run farm plates or business trade plates to cut down on your taxes, then expect problems from the DOT, because you just told them that you are a business.
 
rusty
Not all that hard to figure out the 10k limit on trailer.
First test- limit is 26k gross combined.
Second test- not more than 10k on the trailer.
Eg: 16k on truck & 10k on trailer- good to go, but 5k on truck & 21k on trailer is a no no. Tail wagging the dog type of thing.
Spent over 40 years on the road. After retiring moved away from big city area. Along with change of address,I cancelled my class A cdl, went with plain lic. Several people wanted me to "help them out" for a trip or two. Soc Security plus 2 union pensions put my income just under a tax bracket break. Anything i would earn would put me into the next higher bracket, actual net after tax would come out less than without earning anything.
Willie
 
T Vet
Not trying to start an argument here. We both have many years experience on the road. The way I did things worked for me, the way you do things works for you, not necessarily right or wrong, just different.
In a similar situation i would have told the trooper that I was running empty & offered to open the trailer to show him. No cause for temper flareups & all done in 30 seconds.
Willie
 
John if you read below this came directly from the newest Missouri DMV CDL word for word.I didn't mean to stir up trouble. I have had a CDL since they came out.If I didn't have I would get one. With a class A you could go anywhere hauling your tractors as long as your within legal weight.You only need a log book if your hauling for hire and then thats if only you run outside a 150 mile radius of home base.
 
I live in Indiana and you can only buy 9000 and 11000 pound tags. There isn't a 10,000 pound tag. So do they determine the weight of the trailer by the tag size, the actual trailer weight or the maximum rating of the trailer?

I have a 14k rated trailer with a 9K tags. I will never carry more than 9k total weight. A 10k rated trailer is only 200 pounds lighter than a 14K trailer. The only difference in the two trailer is the tire rating and axle rating. So, for a few more bucks, I bought a trailer that I'll never bend the axles. Will I be in trouble?

BTY, my trailer is for personal, not business.
George
 
well first off when you are behind and empty Coal bucket that weighs in at 9200 lbs and at the time going down I 76 the trailer was bouncing on the pavement and making the normal EMPTY bucket sound . BUT the fact that when i did ask him how he knew i was OVER LOADED was what he said . And his words were WELL I LOOKED ACROSS THE INTERSTATE AND I COULD SEE YOUR DRIVE SPRINGS SAGGING. Since my tractor had a DAYTON 4 spring there is no way in god's green earth you can see the springs unless you look down BEHIND the drive tires. Over here IF you run a coal bucket you will be stopped empty or loaded and hassled , they WILL even try and B/S you on some non existing law . I am sorry but that is NOT going to fly with me . I use to carry a copy of the Ohio Revised traffic code and i would use it when needed . I had the pleasure of growing up with a dad that was a Buckeye bear and believe me i learned from my dad on what is wright and what is not . (1) a overweight is NOT a legal stop . First THEY MUST have probable cause , Speeding reckless driving a safety violation . As i had asked him if i was speeding , did i have any lights out was i driving recklessly and di he see any safety violations and he said NO . Well then now i have him for and unjust stop . Just like over here they can only take you 3 and 1/2 miles to a scale not 3 3/4 back then they could not take you to a scale off your PUCO authority range , UNLESS they placed you under arrest and made you a ward of the state and ordered you to drive the truck to the scales , that way if something did happen YOU WERE NOT AT FAULT the state was . I could go on about what you can and can not do. I could probable write a book on the days on the road . About all the good bears i met and all the nut cases . I am not a sheep and follow the herd and cower when i do get stopped . One other thing here when you are loaded then yes you have to show your bills , maybe not the real bills but the bills . When your empty any bills you have in that truck are privileged and PRIVET information and those you do not have to show .
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top