Facebook man pulled and fined for length

[VegasFlyer]

And was the paddle boat full of people, drinking a clearish liquid in Mason jars???

[GlennWest]

Didn't say anything about that. 

[Big5er]

21 hours ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Phil,

I have no problem with the LEO doing their job.  But if you are saying that many if not most traffic tickets aren’t written to generate revenue rather then protect folks from harm from that maniac driving 5-10 mph over the limit on that we will have to disagree.  

Dave

Dave, I have issues literally tens of thousands of citations. Many are not for "safety" or the protection of "people", littering and handicapped parking come to mind. Nothing unsafe about tossing your burger wrapper in the ditch or making the old folks walk a bit further but both are illegal and I'll write that ticket in a heartbeat.

The law is written by the legislation, not the cops on the street. My job is to issue citations for violations of law, all of them, not just the ones you or I like. 

I also have never met an officer that issued a citation to make money for his boss. Citation revenue, in my state, goes to the County's general fund. The general fund pays for roads, medical treatment for indigent through the Hospital District, salaries for the people that mow the ditches and many other things. Ticket revenue is a drop in the bucket in that fund. Generating revenue is not even in the thought process of the average officer.

[rickeieio]

2 hours ago, VegasFlyer said:

Was he also hauling clearish liquid in Mason jars????

 

It comes in several colors.......

[mr. cob]

4 minutes ago, Big5er said:

Dave, I have issues literally tens of thousands of citations. Many are not for "safety" or the protection of "people", littering and handicapped parking come to mind. Nothing unsafe about tossing your burger wrapper in the ditch or making the old folks walk a bit further but both are illegal and I'll write that ticket in a heartbeat.

The law is written by the legislation, not the cops on the street. My job is to issue citations for violations of law, all of them, not just the ones you or I like. 

I also have never met an officer that issued a citation to make money for his boss. Citation revenue, in my state, goes to the County's general fund. The general fund pays for roads, medical treatment for indigent through the Hospital District, salaries for the people that mow the ditches and many other things. Ticket revenue is a drop in the bucket in that fund. Generating revenue is not even in the thought process of the average officer.

Howdy Phil,

As I don't live in or spend much time in Texas, I can't really speak to how its laws are enforced or the reasons why.  However I do live in the Peoples Republik of Washington, a State where the governor a few elections back, his name was Gary Lock, got on local TV and announced to the State that he was going to use the State Hwy Patrol, through enhanced law enforcement to make up a shortfall in the State coffers.  In the ProW, we don't have a State income tax but we do have "fee's" for just about everything you can think of to include parking your car at a trail-head so you can hike in the woods, this is called a "Discovery Pass" and was enacted years ago as a "demonstration fee" to "study" the affect such a fee would have on the hitherto free hiking in the woods. 

The least expensive ticket you will receive now in the PRoW, is 136.00 dollars, the counties are also in on this scam and everyday you will find the traffic courts packed with the day to day criminals who are dangers to society at large, I mean there has to be some way to pay for the largest fleet of unmarked cars in the entire northwest.  I could enumerate in detail why and where an awful lot of the money collected by these taxes, fee's fines, are spent but that would be labeled political and I already have a warning for posting in a thread that any sane person could see was nothing but political but favored a different slant then that of which I posted in favor of.

Like I said I don't hold it against LEO's for doing their job, I do take umbrage at state legislators who spend more money then they can swindle the people out of in regular taxes and therefore burden them with fee's and over zealous traffic enforcement as a way of adding to the monies that are then spent oft times in direct conflict with the wishes of those who are being pillaged.

Dave

[jkoenig24]

Wait until states start enforcing the WEIGHT limits for vehicles required to pull into weigh stations. I'm seeing more and more signs that specify the WEIGHT over which ANY vehicle is supposed to pull in.  LOTS of "fatties" among us.

 

RVs are also more likely to have ONE side (or tire position) over a limit. What a joy that's going to be.... 

[noteven]

Does my new truck make my truck camper look fat?

[Av8r3400]

Do we know if this particular enforcement incident happened on a two-lane country road/highway or on an interstate type multilane highway?

 

[GlennWest]

Understand it was a narrow country road. But it had a weight station on it.

[Moresmoke]

15 hours ago, jkoenig24 said:

Wait until states start enforcing the WEIGHT limits for vehicles required to pull into weigh stations. I'm seeing more and more signs that specify the WEIGHT over which ANY vehicle is supposed to pull in.  LOTS of "fatties" among us.

 

RVs are also more likely to have ONE side (or tire position) over a limit. What a joy that's going to be.... 

Keep in mind, that many of the weigh stations have load cells embedded in the road. Before you pull off the highway, or as you come down the ramp, they already know how much your rig weighs.

[Big5er]

I've been seeing a lot more over length RV's recently. I stopped a Freightliner MDT pulling a fifthwheel the other day. Total length was 81ft and the driver only had a Class C Texas drivers license. He tried every story he could imagine to explain why he didn't need a Class A DL and to explain how he could pull a trailer that long. 

I have lurked around some of those facebook HDT pages too and there seem to be a lot of RVers that just don't care. "The cops won't stop me". That attitude is gonna bite us all in the ass eventually.

[Darryl&Rita]

3 minutes ago, Big5er said:

I have lurked around some of those facebook HDT pages too and there seem to be a lot of RVers that just don't care. "The cops won't stop me". That attitude is gonna bite us all in the ass eventually.

Only if in contravention of existing laws concerning length, width, speed, equipment maintenance, etc. Follow the law, whistle while you drive.

[GlennWest]

If you don't mind telling us Phil, how long is your setup. Know you got a new DRV, congratulation. I see no way with my setup to loose enough to be legal

[GlennWest]

3 minutes ago, rm.w/aview said:

Is this a source of information that can be trusted as true... https://www.goodsamcamping.com/plan/SizeLimits.aspx

looking at that I need to be a resident of SD. 80' limit. 

[mr. cob]

5 minutes ago, Big5er said:

I've been seeing a lot more over length RV's recently. I stopped a Freightliner MDT pulling a fifthwheel the other day. Total length was 81ft and the driver only had a Class C Texas drivers license. He tried every story he could imagine to explain why he didn't need a Class A DL and to explain how he could pull a trailer that long. 

I have lurked around some of those facebook HDT pages too and there seem to be a lot of RVers that just don't care. "The cops won't stop me". That attitude is gonna bite us all in the ass eventually.

Howdy Phil,

Perhaps as its your job you can shed some light on the question I think most of us who are bit long have, 81 feet is very obvious even to the untrained eye as being way longer then the standard 65 foot limit, that coupled with towing doubles on a narrow road to my way of thinking is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. 

So the question I have is this, I would "ASSUME" that even to one such as your self who is trained to be on the look out for over lenght vehicles can you spot going down the road with enough certainty to warrant pulling someone over who is 68-70 feet long? 

That seems to be a common lenght for the folks that are a bit long.  The RV industry keeps making larger and larger trailers, to safely tow them a person needs a larger truck something has to give, strict regulations on how long and how heavy an "RV" can be made or a relaxation of the lenght laws, if one of these two things doesn't happen I foresee a time when there are going to be a lot of very UNHAPPY CAMPERS if the present laws start to be vigorously enforced.

Dave

[noteven]

It has been mentioned a few times on this forum - local jurisdiction dimension and weight laws apply to every vehicle.  What is good to go in one state or province or territory does not apply in another one.

 

[GlennWest]

One could use a daycab unit and carry no smart. But that would be there full time commute vehicle also. You could tow a fairly long camper this way. In my case they don't allow them in our parking lots on jobs.

[mr. cob]

2 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

One could use a daycab unit and carry no smart. But that would be there full time commute vehicle also. You could tow a fairly long camper this way. In my case they don't allow them in our parking lots on jobs.

Howdy Glenn,

I could see cab over trucks being a sought after solution to the problem, of course this discussion is taking place after I have built a long nose Pete.

Dave

[GlennWest]

Same here. I got a lot invested in my Freightliner. We may be making a mountain out of a mole hole. The cops reported quote is what concerns me. I do go to Kentucky to work sometimes.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

39 minutes ago, rm.w/aview said:

Is this a source of information that can be trusted as true... https://www.goodsamcamping.com/plan/SizeLimits.aspx

 

23 minutes ago, rm.w/aview said:

Another search result; not in a chart format but concise just the same... https://www.flyingamotorsports.com/length-laws-by-state/ This information courtesy of AAA

These are taken from the state books, BUT I don't think they reflect what is happening today.  North Dakota, for example, says 75 feet.  Fed X, UPS, Roadway all pull triples, Menards pulls a 53 and a pup behind conventional tractors with sleepers, Hobby Lobby pulls B-Train doubles up here all the time etc.  

[Shallow Draft]

1 hour ago, Big5er said:

I've been seeing a lot more over length RV's recently. I stopped a Freightliner MDT pulling a fifthwheel the other day. Total length was 81ft and the driver only had a Class C Texas drivers license. He tried every story he could imagine to explain why he didn't need a Class A DL and to explain how he could pull a trailer that long. 

I have lurked around some of those facebook HDT pages too and there seem to be a lot of RVers that just don't care. "The cops won't stop me". That attitude is gonna bite us all in the ass eventually.

81 feet,,  that is a lot of truck and trailer!! I am 62 feet and 64 feet depending on the trailer I am hooked to.  I cannot imagine getting around easily at 81 ft.  As far as I know 75 ft is the longest allowed for RV's in the States that have the longest allowable length.

Alberta is 20 meters or 66 ft.

 

[Steve from SoCal]

Folks,

Don't make the mistake that a commercial operator with exemptions or permits allow Joe RVer to run counter to state regs.   There are some states that allow personal vehicles to permit for over width, to tow boats as an example.    I am not sure states allow RV's to buy over length permits but, that would be the remedy in states where length is an issue?      If you can't buy permits then you travel at you own peril. 

Having a truck with a long body adds to the visual that the whole rig is long, even the rigs that ARE legal have a stretched out appearance with a car and large head rack/box.     The RV placement of the pin doesn't help matters either but, a deep pin would require a much smaller basement area.      A 40' trailer with 5' of swing clearance means you have 20' for cab, drom box and, anything else to hit the 65' mark.     A truck with a 185" cab has less than 5' to play with.      Trucks with small sleepers that range from 150-165" are doable but, the cab extenders and exhaust have to go.      I don't know the cab dimensions on Volvo but a 112" cab with a 54" sleeper Paccar truck is right about 170" to the outside of the cab shock brackets.     That number with a 70" wide deck for a Smart car is right at 20'.

 

Steve

[Big5er]

2 hours ago, GlennWest said:

If you don't mind telling us Phil, how long is your setup. Know you got a new DRV, congratulation. I see no way with my setup to loose enough to be legal

Glenn, I haven't actually measured it but I am under 65ft. My truck is right at 25 and the trailer is 41. That would be 66 but with the overlap it will drop me under 64ft if my "guesstimate" is correct. I still haven't weighed this new trailer yet either and that is pure laziness since, unlike most people here, I do have my own set of scales. 

2 hours ago, GlennWest said:

looking at that I need to be a resident of SD. 80' limit. 

Being a "resident" will not help you . Length is not reciprocal. You can only be as long in a particular state as that state allows, not what you home state allows. 

Like Steve said, both the charts listed here cover passenger vehicles...not commercial vehicles. All the over length examples Jim listed are "commercial". In Texas there is no overall length for a commercial tractor and trailer combination. The trailer is limited to 59ft but the tractor has no length limit, and before you even go there, we are NOT tractors in Texas. Recreational vehicle combinations (a motorhome and trailer, a truck and a trailer or even two trailers) are limited to 65ft overall. 
Texas has a nice .pdf file you can download here. It even has pictures for the mathematically challenged 

Dave, to answer your question I would like to think I can spot 70ft but I believe in a little moderation. Just like you don't stop the speeder for 1 or 2 miles over the speed limit I'm not stopping the 68-70ft you mentioned, but come on....81ft???

[GlennWest]

My Truck must be longer than yours. I am 151" from back of cab and that is about as close as on can get with a Smart in the mix. My Teton is just shy of 40' and with the mini split back there is 40'. I am close to 70'. 

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

I just now put a tape measure on the Pete, from the front bumper to the center line of the pin its 29 feet 3 inches, from the rear of my trailer to the center line of the pin is 42 feet 6 inches, total hitched up lenght, comes to 71 feet 9 inches, that is 3 feet 9 inches longer then when this same trailer is hitched to the Freightliner, that came out to 68 feet on the nose.

I knew going into this that building a classic truck and keeping it tandem would add to the truck lenght, hauling the Smart Car, behind a full size sleeper only exasperates the problem, like I said I knew this going into this project.  I'll do like I have done in the past make darn sure I don't attract any undue attention to myself and 98% of the miles I'll cover be WEST of the Mississippi River, with 75% of those miles being WEST of the east slope of the Rocky Mountains.

I had my trailer weighed at the first National Rally I attended in 2014, all was well then and my load hasn't changed since then so in that regard I should be good to go.  I have all my paper work in order so at this point its up to dumb luck and common sense to see me through.

Dave