By G.R. Whale
One day, I snuck into a dealership while a salesman was explaining to a potential customer how his 3/4-ton would pull the trailer he was eyeing. And the customer, apparently unaware of what his truck would pull or what that trailer weighed, couldn't pass up the deal. Problem was the trailer, a tri-axle, four-slide, 40-foot fifth wheel, weighed more empty than any 3/4-ton is rated for and fully loaded would be beyond any pickup's capability--even an F-350 Tow Boss. There was another inconvenience: The customer didn't have a license to drive such a rig.
In Truck Trend's home state of California, the Department of Motor Vehicles Web site says you need a Class A non-commercial license to tow a conventional hitch trailer of more than 10,000 pounds GVW or a fifth-wheel of more than 15,000 pounds GVW, and at this point a handful of trailer manufacturers build units with GVW of over 20,000 pounds. We know some owners of such trailers have the correct license, but we also have a good sense that the majority of people who haul trailers to inland deserts and coastal campgrounds don't. It's not really an expensive violation here, at least until your insurance company finds out or you're involved in an accident. But after hearing from friends and readers in other states, driving without the right license is something you might want to avoid.
One acquaintance spoke of being ticketed for a rig over 26,000 gross: a pickup of 10,500 GVW and trailer of 18,000 GVW, totaling 28,500 GVW, according to law enforcement. This wasn't a cheap mistake, costing four digits by the time it was over. Our acquaintance admits he didn't read the rules, and neither his truck nor trailer dealer suggested a different license may be needed. And unlike many recreational trailerists, he himself wasn't overweight. We polled a few states at random and found in every case it's illegal to operate an overloaded noncommercial vehicle (as defined by axle or total weight versus GAWR and GVWR), and vehicles of certain weights require special licenses or endorsements. In some cases, it's an infraction and in others a misdemeanor (it goes on your record), and penalties vary. It could be a simple $200 for the wrong license, a fine of dollars per pound it's overweight, or you may have to park it where it is until you unload it. Our e-mail request for information to the California Highway Patrol was the only one that remained unanswered a month after receipt notification.
That could be a reason for the confusion--it's not always easy to get an official answer from the definitive agency, and various law-enforcement departments interpret rules differently. You may have noticed Truck Trend is one of few publications that print GCWR. We do this for two reasons: one is that it's the only way to get an accurate "as-is" tow rating. Another is that the 50 states and District of Columbia are free to make their own regulations about licensing and recreational towing limits. Surely the DOT and NHTSA, preferably with some input from SAE and a "tow rating" set of standards, could design a proposal for licensing standards for non-commercial operators.
What can you do about all this? First, be realistic when matching truck and trailer weight, regardless of legal, warranty, or insurance concerns. Second, keep asking questions and documenting your progress until you get somebody's name in writing at your state's ruling authority. That way, if you do get cited, you can show the judge you made every reasonable and good-faith effort to find out what the law states and that you tried to comply with it. And finally, don't take a salesman's word for it (or anything).