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Re: [RC] Flatbed trucks and Weigh Stations - Dyane SmithYeah, I went with the Ford because I also needed a bigger payload to accommodate the pin weight of the gooseneck and because I waited until the last day of the Employee Discount sale to make up my mind. There are enough tradeoffs in the pickup industry to cause permanent meltdown in potential buyers. I am looking into changing out the axles (they are torsion axles which apparently can't be just raised). I don't really want to raise the trailer because I have ramps for my old, arthritic gelding, but I'm trying to scope out all possible solutions. It doesn't bear a lot of thinking about, but being addicted to horses must be a lot like being addicted to any other drug. Dyane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laney Humphrey" <laneyhh@xxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 10:06 AM Subject: Re: [RC] Flatbed trucks and Weigh Stations Two comments, one probably not useful, one maybe: 1) not all new PUs are jacked to the sky. That's one reason I've loved my Chevy/GMCs 4x4s - they aren't very high. That won't help if you've already bought a truck that's a skyscraper. 2) I had the same problem of older gooseneck with newer truck. There is some adjustment in the gooseneck itself, i.e., the hitch can be raised which helps. Even doing that, my trailer always rode at an angle. That's hard on the rear most tires and axle and also the reefer which likes to be level. I finally had the axles raised which was pricey but not nearly as much as buying a new trailer! Laney Dyane Smith wrote:Hi, Gary, Thanks for the explanation. I haven't been stopped yet. This is all in an (over) abundance of caution. My new truck is arriving next month and I'm trying to figure out how to make it all work (very tall truck, relatively short gooseneck). One of the other Ridecampers suggested getting an aftermarket pickup bed. I'm going to look into that. One particularly irritating thing about all this is that, at least as I understand it, RV'rs are exempt from this bed requirement. So also are people hauling for agriculture, which makes me wonder why horse trailers would not be considered a version of agriculture. Dyane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Fend" <garyfend@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Dyane Smith" <sunibey@xxxxxxxxxxx>; <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 7:30 PM Subject: Re: [RC] Flatbed trucks and Weigh StationsI went through what you are going through a few years ago because of my work vehicles. I did a lot of research and talked to DOT, CHP, and DMV. Before going into detail, here is the bottom line. All trucks and vans in California are commercial vehicles (look on your registration and it will say so, or your license plate will be in the format of a number followed by a letter and then a bunch of numbers). All commercial vehicles are required to stop at weigh stations but pick ups are exempt. If you remove your pick up bed--you are not longer exempt. Once you are considered a non-exempt commercial vehicle there are various levels of further requirements depending on your vehicle weight and length. Here's what happened to me. We have a bunch of vans set up with instruments to do stack emission testing. One of the vans is a cut off with a box installed. One day after many years of clear sailing the driver was pulled over for not stopping at a weigh station. No citation was issued (maybe because it was a government vehicle) but the driver was told to stop at all weigh stations in the future and get a safety check and certificate. That's when I started calling around and found there are a lot of un-enforced laws on the books. Including the requirement that all commercially licensed vans stop at inspection stations. We complied with the officer's request to stop for inspection for about 6 months but got tired of being waved through the inspection so we discontinued the practice. We have not been stopped since. It all boils down to how bored the CHP at that weigh station is. I also know a landscaper who converted from a pick-up/trailer to a stake bed truck to save on bridge tolls until he was pulled over for not stopping. He has gone back to the trailer. BTW, where were you stopped? Good luck Gary --- Dyane Smith <sunibey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:It turns out that in California, if you take the pickup bed off your truck (because they are making the 4x4's skyscrapers, now) and replace it with a flatbed to get the bed under the gooseneck of a trailer built before 2000, you have to register as a Commercial vehicle, get a Class A license, keep a log and stop at all weigh stations. Anyone else having these problems? Are you stopping? Did you get a new license? How did all this work out for you? Makes me insane. The GVWR of the truck is 11,400; the trailer 12,000. But, the CHP assures me that even a little Ranger would no longer be classified as a pickup if you removed the bed. Anyway, I'd appreciate ideas. TIA Dyane=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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