Gvwr

blong

Active Member
Hi

Has anyone ever been stopped and nailed for not having a high enough Gross vehicle weight limit on their TV ownership? Price difference per year to "BUY" the ability to tow the bigger number per year is about $300 bucks in Canada and its about to double over the next year. Not to mention the $$ hike in your truck insurance premiums as you will be considered a "Heavy" truck for rating purposes. I am only towing 3 or 4 times a year and seems like a waste of cash to bump up my GVW for that.
I have to bump it up some anyway to tow my Bobcat but the price jumps alot if I try to hit a number that covers me for the 3950 too.

Brad
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
Here's a link to a poll about that subject from about a year and a half ago.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.ph...he-scales-by-law-enforcement?highlight=scales

Hit the "view results" button to see numbers. Trace
 

jpdoggett

Well-known member
One time when I was getting my tags the gal at MVD ask me about the weight of my RV and ask about changing the tag on the Truck I ask her what the difference was and it was about $250.00 then she said that she had never seen or heard of anyone getting stop for it so I didn't go bigger
 

blong

Active Member
thanks, That is what i thought. I spoke to our enforcement agency up here and they said they have no interest in seeing RV trailers at the scales and she personally has never pulled one over in 26 years. That leaves the insurance question. would be interesting for the insurance co. to not cover a claim because the numbers of the ownership are not high enough, especially considering they insure both my TV and the trailer too.... but i am sure if they could get out of paying this way they would.... so i have the question out to them as well.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
It believe you just give the vin numbers of your truck and trailer to the insurance company and they do the rest based on the data that comes up.
I would think it should make the weight of your rigs available to them , if they want that info. Trace
 

danemayer

Well-known member
would be interesting for the insurance co. to not cover a claim because the numbers of the ownership are not high enough, especially considering they insure both my TV and the trailer too.... but i am sure if they could get out of paying this way they would.... so i have the question out to them as well.

Best way to tell whether they can get out of paying is to read the actual policy and pay special attention to the exclusions section. Their verbal answer won't hold up and won't mean a thing if you have a dispute.

A lot of people seem to think that insurance companies can deny payment of a claim because you broke a rule/law/were overweight/etc. But if the written policy doesn't mention those as exclusions, it would be a breech of contract.

Does this ever happen? Forget about the exotic case of RVs and tow vehicles. Look at the much more common scenarios. Have you ever heard of an accident where one driver broke a traffic law and had his insurance claim denied? Sure. Speeding, failure to yield right-of-way, failure to stop, reckless driving are all common causes of accidents. I'll bet you've never heard of any of these situations resulting in claims not being paid.
 

blong

Active Member
Well as luck has it. I did get pulled over by the local police while pulling my Bobcat just last week doing a "routine commercial vehicle check for paperwork Etc." I use my truck for my part time Excavation business 1 or 2 days a week pulling the bobcat to jobsites. it was registered commercialy for this purpoase alone..the fine was $506 for overweight 6875 kgs. (My ownership was still stock at 3500 kgs.) I have since upgraded to 11000 kgs cost of almost $400/year.

So it is a really good thing they don't bother with RV's or alot of folks might be very unhappy.... my bobcat and trailer is lighter almost all fifth wheels. To cover us to tow our 3950 we will need to go to 13000 kgs.
It is irritating cause it has nothjing to do with safety, just money.

thanks for all the advice folks.
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Private vehicles have different legal requirements but they have to be registered and fees paid for GVW. Mine is registered for 16000 lbs GVW in my state while Ford's sticker is 11,500 GVW. I have not seen or heard of anyone with a private vehicle pulling an RV being cited for weight issues. However if you have not paid the proper registration fee you would be culpable. Also many states do not require a special drivers license and each state honors each others license rules. When I moved from a state that required a class A for pulling my trailer to a state that does not I lost my class A license for a class D. The FED's suggests but do not require all states to adhere to the Federal license recommendations. If I get pulled over in a state that requires a class A, my valid class D would be OK. Saying all that I highly recommend that anyone driving a large trailer should get proper training from a CDL/RV private driving school. That way one would know the laws and would enhance safety.
 

ghosst666

Member
Well as luck has it. I did get pulled over by the local police while pulling my Bobcat just last week doing a "routine commercial vehicle check for paperwork Etc." I use my truck for my part time Excavation business 1 or 2 days a week pulling the bobcat to jobsites. it was registered commercialy for this purpoase alone..the fine was $506 for overweight 6875 kgs. (My ownership was still stock at 3500 kgs.) I have since upgraded to 11000 kgs cost of almost $400/year.

So it is a really good thing they don't bother with RV's or alot of folks might be very unhappy.... my bobcat and trailer is lighter almost all fifth wheels. To cover us to tow our 3950 we will need to go to 13000 kgs.
It is irritating cause it has nothjing to do with safety, just money.

thanks for all the advice folks.

i believe that over 10,000 kilos ,you need a class a permit for commercial purpose.if air brakes are included ,you also need z endorsement,that said a yearly inspection sticker also..sounds like you got off easy
 

blong

Active Member
Regardless of what your ownership says, Towing any trailer over 10k lbs (4600 kgs) and then you need an A licence, an AR (r= restricted) will do if you don't have air brakes. However, if said trailer qualifies as an rv (contains living accomodations), then you are good up GVW of 24000lbs with just a G licence in Ontario Can. I weighed in at 27,300 lbs on our last outing so we are still over with the 3950 in tow. I am in the process of upgrading my licence from my current D to an AR.

And I agree, I did get off easy.
 

Chainsaw

Saskatchewan Chapter Leader
Here is Saskatchewan you need a class 1 with no air in order to tow over 10,000 lbs. I just upgraded my truck to a 3500 which is good for a 17,000 5er. My registration has it as12500 kg. gros combined.

Our DOT has no interest in private vehicles but the RCMP always have new recruits who want to prove something. I was stopped and checked in BC, they had 15 truck campers and trailers impounded for over weight on the TV. They had been working for 3 hours.

I was once told that you are good to go so long as you are legal in your home province or state but a client of mine told me she got everything impounded in BC because she was not licensed to pull 10,000 even tho it was legal in her home province.

Go figure
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Our DOT has no interest in private vehicles but the RCMP always have new recruits who want to prove something. I was stopped and checked in BC, they had 15 truck campers and trailers impounded for over weight on the TV. They had been working for 3 hours.

I was once told that you are good to go so long as you are legal in your home province or state but a client of mine told me she got everything impounded in BC because she was not licensed to pull 10,000 even tho it was legal in her home province.

Go figure

Are you saying that I can not visit Canada because I meet the USA/State licensing rules, but not Canada.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
So me in the east will not go to BC with my unit.

Had the same problem in Manitoba had to reregister all my vehicles for 6 months because my insurance in atlantic Canada found out we were in Manitoba for the winter. I was not working my wife was partime. and higher class drivers licence to tow my RV.


And a 41 ft Motor home can be driven with a car licence there to.
 

dave10a

Well-known member
Good grief now I have to scrub Canada as well as Mexico from my travel list. Canada because the RCMP does not train their law enforcers well to be professionals and Mexico because the drug cartels run the country. Oh well the USA has plenty to see and visit :)
 

Willym

Well-known member
Reciprocation is in effect for Canada, and likely the US, for vehicle and driver licensing. That is, if you are legal in your home province (state) then you are good to go in the rest of the country. I think that the BC police must have far too much time on their hands if all the stories about them stopping RV's are true.

For Ontario, a G licence is OK for trailer axle weights over 4600 kg (just over 10000lbs) so long as the trailer and truck combined weight is no more than 11000 kg, and the trailer is a 5th wheel.
 
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caissiel

Senior Member
You can be parked in BC if your tow vehicle looks overloaded. Its so foolish that I have a feelling we are run by MH owners that have it against trailer campers. We are the lower class according to them.

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