We will have 3 adults and 2 dogs while travelling 15,000 miles or so. For the sake of a bit more room in the truck, we thought we would have the dogs in the trailer now and then while on the road.
I'm pretty sure that it is illegal to have a human back there, but what about a pet?
Hi Ssthrd,
Humans and pets are two different things. To the contrary, last time I checked there are about 14 states in the US which do allow a person to be in a 5th wheel while in tow. Pets and humans are governed by traffic articles on a state level. The laws you speak of are not legislated on a Federal level like the Commercial motor carrier laws. Therefore, these laws are state specific and you will not find one answer to your question. States can have specific laws which can, and in some cases are, different for a truck camper, 5th wheel and TT with respect to both a human and a pet being in them. Many state traffic articles now include and cover pets in one aspect or another. A couple examples of these is confining a pet in a vehicle during weather (like heat) that poses an imminent threat to the animals health, or driving while holding a pet. There is no simple "one" answer to your question. In some cases you will find an act legal only due to the absence of a law. To really confound the topic, each states legislative body updates, changes, deletes and adds traffic laws on an annual basis at different legislative times. In short, what was legal last year passing through a given state may not be this year.
Whether it be a safe practice is a separate argument which may or may not coincide with the law. Your answer is state specific and may only be answered by searching the respective traffic article for the state in which your inquiring about.