Have the State Troopers weighed your rig?

[CliffP]

Lots of people tow more than their max GVWR. This thread is not meant to encourage exceeding tow limits, but has anyone on the forum been required to weigh their set up to proove their GVWR has not been exceeded? How close is too close?

 

[GOTTOYS]

Never heard of anyone ever being weighed by any Law Enforcement agency. It's just not an issue....Don

Sent from Commodore Vic 20 using Hunt & Peck 1

 

[jnbhobe]

I have heard of some getting weighed in BC Canada but those are the only ones I have ever heard of. I don't know anyone personally who has benn pulled over.

 

[jmgratz]

This has been cussed and discussed before in depth. I think the consensus was as long as you we not acting stupid, in an accident caused by overloading or so overloaded you are squatting ridiculously low, you would be stopped and weighed. If you were looking normal and acting right you would be alright.

 

[plumberdude]

hey there jim,
look normal(HOW?)acting right(HUMM) DO you think that would put alot of us in trouble!!!
WE ARE MEN WE ARE ALWAYS IN TOUBLE!!!
Also common sence comes into play.
hope your family are doing well hpoe to see ya soon somewhere on the road..
pat

 

[jmgratz]

hey there jim,
look normal(HOW?)acting right(HUMM) DO you think that would put alot of us in trouble!!!
WE ARE MEN WE ARE ALWAYS IN TOUBLE!!!
Also common sence comes into play.
hope your family are doing well hpoe to see ya soon somewhere on the road..
pat

Acting right = not driving erratically, speeding, lane hopping etc.
normal = truck not obviously squatting i.e. rear bumper 2 iches from the road and headlights lighting up airplanes.
common sense = hmmmmm

 

[ILH]

I work with government enforcement in a segment of the trucking industry. We have meetings of the 49 states, 10 provinces and 3 territories. The various DOTs frequently demonstrate their roadside ability to individual weigh wheels. However, to my knowledge, these inspections are always in conjunction with fuel (looking for colored fuel), decals (interjurisdictional authority), mechanical, etc.

Bottom line - they are after the commercial carriers. Unless they have a reason to pull you over, it it highly unlikely that you will be subject to a roadside weight check. Furthermore, most inspection stations will get highly annoyed if a non-commercial truck enters the line-up during inspections.

Hope that helps.

 

[Sandpirate69]

ILH, put it best. As I sit here at an intersection with a Florida DOT on US 27. I just showed him this thread & he rolled his eyes. Not sure if at me or the thread. But, commercial vehicles is where the enforcement is at.

Have a Great Day.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

I work with government enforcement in a segment of the trucking industry. We have meetings of the 49 states, 10 provinces and 3 territories. The various DOTs frequently demonstrate their roadside ability to individual weigh wheels. However, to my knowledge, these inspections are always in conjunction with fuel (looking for colored fuel), decals (interjurisdictional authority), mechanical, etc.

Bottom line - they are after the commercial carriers. Unless they have a reason to pull you over, it it highly unlikely that you will be subject to a roadside weight check. Furthermore, most inspection stations will get highly annoyed if a non-commercial truck enters the line-up during inspections.

Hope that helps.

Short story: years and yearsnago (many years) I was driving a very large army truck and thought I better pullnin for a weigh. I was never told not to so I did. Well, wouldst you believe the chap was not very happy with me! How did I know this? Well when he asked me why I stopped and I replyed "to get my truck weighed"! He said "you some kidnof smartass!??" Get going


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[TXBobcat]

We drove through Nebraska and on hwy 71 to Lusk Wyo there were signs that said... "Trucks and Pickups pulling trailers" but the weigh stations were the road side, no office and they were closed.

A friend here said that the only thing they would check for Pickups and trailers are the safety points.

I don't know personally if all this is correct or not but that is what I was told by a local.

BC

 

[TandT]

Here's a link to a thread that contains a poll regarding this subject.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.ph...les-by-law-enforcement?highlight=poll++scales

Hit "view poll results" to get the numbers.. Trace

 

[CliffP]

Thanks all for the responses! I had read some posts that seemed to imply this would be a worry for anyone who was pushing it weight wise. It seems like it would take an accident or extreme case of being overweight to get looked twice at by law enforcement.

 

[driver311]

well i pull coast to coast and cross scales daily. all heartland units, DRV's and what ever butch buys. not a problem and i pull with a 3/4 ton. o a real truck a DODGE

 

[noobee]

Food for thought: let's say you had an accident while towing & being overweight. If your insurance company became aware of the overweight, would they walk away from the situation & not compensate you?

BTW: I am aware of someone hauling a boat from Alberta into BC who was stopped by the RCMP & directed to a weigh station. He was over weight, was fined, told to drop off the trailer with the boat & could pick it up when he got a vehicle that was adequate.

 

[Sajo]

Well, reading all of this I may be beating a dead horse but we have a 2007 dodge 2500 H/D with cummings 6.7 engine. We "were" pulling a new 2013 Big Country 3650 until last week. Trucks GVWR is 9000lbs. We are 318 lbs. over and I will not pull knowing we're over weight. Dodge handles the rig very well but if we have a wreck it could mean disaster for the rest of our day's. Looking now for either a 3500 dodge or F-350 ford diesel. Rather stay at home for a few weeks and be safe than sorry.
sajo

 

[branson4020]

Food for thought: let's say you had an accident while towing & being overweight. If your insurance company became aware of the overweight, would they walk away from the situation & not compensate you?

BTW: I am aware of someone hauling a boat from Alberta into BC who was stopped by the RCMP & directed to a weigh station. He was over weight, was fined, told to drop off the trailer with the boat & could pick it up when he got a vehicle that was adequate.

Would your insurance deny coverage if you were speeding? How about driving with bald tires? DUII? Talking on a cell phone?

 

[Urban350]

Would your insurance deny coverage if you were speeding? How about driving with bald tires? DUII? Talking on a cell phone?

If you are breaking the law yes they can.

 

[sjs731]

A friend's son was on his scooter and got hit from behind by an SUV with a trailer full of firewood. Luckily no injuries. The first thing the police did after everything was cleared off the road was get mobile scales and weighed the trailer and guess what....overweight for the trailer and the SUV. When the lawyer got a hold of that info it didn't go well for the driver. Texting while driving didn't help out.

 

[Sajo]

That's right!! We'll just stay parked here at home until we can find a dually...

sajo

 

[danemayer]

Food for thought: let's say you had an accident while towing & being overweight. If your insurance company became aware of the overweight, would they walk away from the situation & not compensate you?

I would expect this to be governed by the policy language. Our Geico Auto/RV policy does not mention being overweight as a cause for excluding coverage.

However, if you were determined to be overweight, and therefore unsafe, I wouldn't be surprised if you were sued for injuries/loss caused by "reckless disregard." I'm not sure, but I think that might cancel any limitations imposed by state law on how much money can be recovered via the suit. In other words, the damaged party could sue for much more than your liability coverage.