Hello everyone. Im new to the forum so please be nice to the green pea does anyone know what kind of legalities are involved in operating a 3500 truck with a 16000lb GVWR? This would be for hire and would include interstate. Would I need a DOT #? anything else? thanks in advance
Hello, and welcome Jenyap! Yup, you can get one free online at: www.safersys.org Also commercial insurance for the truck and trailer would be required. I'm not sure if there's anything else though. good Luck!!
Are you talking about pulling a trailer or grossing the truck to 16,000lbs with a load on its back. I wouldn't gross a 1 ton to 16,000lbs the brakes won't handle it. If your planning on pulling a 16,000lb trailer I wouldn't do that either the truck is overloaded. If your gross combining aka total weight of truck and trailer to 16,000lbs than its not too bad. What do you plan on hauling ? If your doing any kind of distance traveling I would be looking at a medium duty like a 3 or 5 ton truck.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums!!:drinkup I think we might be talking about a 3500HD which would have a higher GVWR. There are no CDL requirements for a truck this size, but if you add a trailer, you will quickly approach limits which do require a CDL. Besides DOT numbers, 2 other requirements would be road triangles and a fire extinguisher.
Any trucks with GVWR or truck/trailer with GCWR of over 10,000# and being used for commercial purpose during interstate will require DOT numbers. Steve, can road flares be substituted for triangles?
oops small correction: GVWR of trailer will be 14000lb
A 16k truck and a 14k trailer usually put you into the range of a Class A CDL, but check with TN MVA to be sure. With the CDL you'll need a DOT medical card (also required for any commercial vehicle over 10k) and the DOT #'s, fire extinguisher and road flares / triangles already mentioned. Snonut, (I'm not Steve but I play him on this forum:wink2 ) My memory is that flares meet the requirement, but can't be carried if you are hauling HAZMAT (or maybe it's just combustible HAZMAT, I forget)
You always get the fun jobs!! I only get offered the part as the forum class clown. I wonder if the truck and trailer wouldn't also be requied to get the annual inspections then too, with the combo in excess of 26K, and trailer over 10K?
Probably so, and you get a free site visit from FMCSA to help you be sure you are keeping the right records and safety program. I guess interstate more than (100 or is it 150?) air miles from home means logging hours of service with those crazy graphs to meet the new rules too. Sounds like a PITA! I guess that's why Jeff D. makes the big bucks.
You had a typo error Korey, but I fixed it.:yup It's my "bills", that are big!! You could make a song out of that. "He's got the biggest bills of them all!"
You better do some number crunching before you start this venture to see if its profitable. In my area it used to be illegal for me to haul other peoples goods I needed a motor carrier plate and be a registered etc etc. The gov't de-regulated the trucking industry so now all I need is a DOT number and I can haul where ever when ever. The best way for you to find out is talk to your local officials that deal with the rules and regs in your area. You guys also have that stupid law that requires you to hold a CDL to operate a vehical or combination vehical with a gvw greater than 26,000lbs. If you have a trailer with a gvw of 14,000lbs then you will need a truck with a gvw of 14,000lbs to safely haul it.