Tonnage to put on straight truck DOT license

[Anonymous-0]

I need to determine how many tons to put on the license for my 1979 GMC 7000 straight truck with a 13' 6" long, 7' 5" wide, and 4' 4" tall metal grain box - around 330 bushels level full. I think I weighed the empty truck once and it was around 11,000 pounds. Don't know if that is 100% correct. The door jam says the total gross vehicle weight is 26,000 pounds. 300 bushels of 58 pound corn would weigh 17,000 pounds. How many tons do I put on the license? The 26,000 lb. gross vehicle weight of the truck or 13 ton. Or, 11,000 (the weight of the truck) plus the weight of the corn 17,000 = 28,000 for 14 ton???? Will the DOT let the truck and load weigh more than the GVW sticker on the door (26,000#). Maybe I can't haul a full box of corn??? Since I was working on the truck the past year I just had a minimal tonnage amount and now need to put it to use with the correct tonnage. Thank you.

 

[paul]

I don't know much.

You need to put on 28000 if that is what you are going to haul.

You can sticker it more than the door plate says.

If you license it over 26,000 - you get to subject yourself to all sorts do DOT extras. If you keep it 26000 or less there is a lot less paperwork.

Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

take it easy on the old gal, go with 26,000.

 

[willie in mn]

You can plate it for whatever you want, but as far as the DOT is concerned, the rating on the door post, or the plate, whichever is LESS, rules. No need to pay for weight that you can't use.
If found to be overweight by DOT you can be made to make it legal before moving. That means call for another truck & transfer some of the load. Just dumping some on the ground results in littering ticket.
By the way, in some states the DOT can "claw back" your scale slips for 6 months.
Willie

 

[D beatty]

In Indiana if you are caught overloaded and are plated for Indiana they give you a ticket and let you go.

 

[Kent Petersen]

you better check with you state dot on axel limits we can not carry that much on two axels here

 

[Jack in Colo]

I agree with Willie in mn, whatever the truck manufacturer rating is on the vehicle is the max you can haul with it, the fines for being overloaded just ain't worth it these days. also Fed DOT does require a CDL license for vehicles rated by the manufacturer at 26,001 lbs and greater. When you get into the CDL catagory things get more expensive and more complicated, stay at 26,000 lower. As far as the DOT letting you go if you are a little overloaded? sometimes they do and sometimes they let you go with a fine, in some cases they can "red tag" your truck and make you get it legal before you can move it. If you're not sure of the regs. contact your state DOT and they will let you know what you can and can't do with your truck, some states do have exceptions to Fed rules if you are hauling within the state boundries on secondary roads.

 

[showcrop]

Having a hard time here understanding how anyone can think that the manufacturer's rating is meaningless. Here in NH if you purchase a triaxle truck, the fourth axle is added by a truck equipment company. In order to get the GVW raised, you have to go to the DOT and get the additional axle inspected, (along with the lights) before you can get it registered for the heavier capacity. So if you need to carry more grain you need to do the legal thing and get a dolly axle added and inspected. Chances are good that the dolly axle will be required to have brakes.

 

[paul]

I was at the truck dealer that likes to charge a lot, and he does
the DOT inspection stuff, he is known as the guru on farm
trucks around this part of Minnesota.

I was there with my truck, said the door plate is less than the
license on the truck. And he said makes no difference for you,
is that way all the time.

This is in Minnesota, this is for a single axle farm truck
licensed at 26000, farmer owned, hauling my own grain.

What the rules are in other situations I do not know, but that is
what I was told by the person that is supposed to know here.

I had the same thoughts as you, certainly.

Paul

 

[Leroy]

Ohio you take in a weigh ship with actuall weight of truck and that is how you pay, they tell you what plate you use. None of this plating a truck acording to load.

 

[W_B]

(quoted from post at 17:34:13 04/22/13) Ohio you take in a weigh ship with actuall weight of truck and that is how you pay, they tell you what plate you use. None of this plating a truck acording to load.

Same with trailers, they tell you.

 

[dhamps10]

In IL., you plate by door sticker.

 

[Owen Aaland]

In Minnesota the weight you license a truck for has no bearing on whether or not it is a commercial vehicle and subject to DOT inspection and regulations. They go by the manufacturers GVW rating or the actual gross weight of the loaded truck, which ever is greater.

 

[NEKS]

Its easy in our county. The gals in the court house ask you what weight sticker you want. They could care less if its right or wrong. I've hauled a lot of 33000 loads of grain with my C-70 with a 36M tag. Think the front axle GW is 9000 lbs and the rear is 19000 lbs GW.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 19:09:48 04/22/13) Its easy in our county. The gals in the court house ask you what weight sticker you want. They could care less if its right or wrong. I've hauled a lot of 33000 loads of grain with my C-70 with a 36M tag. Think the front axle GW is 9000 lbs and the rear is 19000 lbs GW.

What it really comes down to is when some kid runs a stop sign right in front of you and you can't stop, who is living in your house next year?

 

[mkirsch]

"Who is living in your house next year?"

...is going to happen at 24000 (2000 under GVWR) or 28000 (2000 over GVWR, but legally tagged). You're not going to be able to stop a big heavy truck in time in that situation. No time to react is no time to react, and their smarmy personal injury lawyer will hang you out to dry whether you're driving a grain truck or a radio flyer wagon.