Weight
- Thread starter eyemgh
- Start date
I have never seen a state or federal codified law in reference to passenger vehicles (which non commercial trucks are) that addresses any legal penalty for exceeding the payload of a vehicle. I understand the numbers, I understand why they are there, and I understand that there are safety repercussions, but from a legal (not civil) standpoint, I have never seen a code section that addresses this.
I have seen many ways commercial vehicles can exceed loads etc, and I have seen the classification codes for passenger vehicles that limits them to certain classes to meet govt classifications etc. But not once have I seen the code section federal or otherwise that says an overloaded passenger vehicle is illegal and xyz arrest or fine is a penalty.
If anyone knows this code section I would love to read it.
I have seen many ways commercial vehicles can exceed loads etc, and I have seen the classification codes for passenger vehicles that limits them to certain classes to meet govt classifications etc. But not once have I seen the code section federal or otherwise that says an overloaded passenger vehicle is illegal and xyz arrest or fine is a penalty.
If anyone knows this code section I would love to read it.
Todd780
OverCamper
For those traveling in British Columbia:
So we have Canada that codifies the law and you pay a fine... Anything in the US..
Todd780
OverCamper
As far as I know that's just BC. Not sure about the other Provinces or Territories.
Anyone travelling through them should look into local laws just as they would if travelling between States.
ChasingOurTrunks
Well-known member
Anyone whose read any of the other threads on this topic know that I'm a nerd about this stuff. There are a million good reasons that lighter is better. Liability is really low on my list -- but it still matters, as it should for anyone who crosses jurisdictions (my legal Alberta rig could net me some fines in BC, for example). I don't have the energy or time to understand the minutiae of every jurisdiction's legal codes, so for me, staying within the design limits is a good practice.
Higher on my list than the legalities (as others have mentioned) is safety. A heavy rig doesn't stop as well as a light rig, regardless of what the door sticker says. And, as an Overlanders, we are WAY more likely to get into an accident in our car than we are to face some of the other risks we prepare extensively for (for example, some people refuse to buy cars with autos because they cannot be bump started. There's a 1 in 109 chance of dying in a car crash. I don't know exactly what the odds are of dying from being unable to bump start a car but...I'm going to bet it's a lot lower than 1 in 109.)
Animal strikes are common. When Bullwinkle jumps out of the ditch in front of me, I need to stop, but weight really makes that difficult because it's proportional -- a 4000 lbs object will require twice the stopping distance of a 2000 lbs object, all other things being equal. So imagine we have two trucks on the same tires and Bullwinkle is 100 feet away. The 5000 lbs truck needs 70 feet to stop. The 6700 lbs truck hits the moose (I'd suggest double checking my math...I'm really fast at math. Not accurate...just fast!). This is a simplified example but what does that look like in the real world?
The 5000 lbs truck is about 1000 lbs under GVM, and a common figure for payload of these trucks is about 1500 lbs. So thats a single person with a big dog and a backpacker's approach to camping, with basic emergency gear in our 5,000 lbs truck. For the 6700 lbs truck -- well, It doesn't take much to hit 1700 extra pounds of stuff: Bumper front and rear with winch up front (250 lbs). Skid plates (100 lbs). Big tires (25 extra lbs each with a full size spare so 125 lbs). Roof tent (150 lbs). Awning (50 lbs). Fridge (40 lbs....70lbs if you drink a lot of beer). Second battery with wiring etc. (150 lbs) -- I've just described a pretty typical build in the Overland community using relatively conservative numbers, and I'm already over 850 lbs in kit before I've even included the driver and his or her essentials, and note I've not included spare gas, water, a roof rack, the recovery kit, food, or anything like that yet. The point is it's easy to be way over weight without realizing it, because it adds up fast, and that weight is the difference between hitting the moose and not hitting it.
Higher on my list than the legalities (as others have mentioned) is safety. A heavy rig doesn't stop as well as a light rig, regardless of what the door sticker says. And, as an Overlanders, we are WAY more likely to get into an accident in our car than we are to face some of the other risks we prepare extensively for (for example, some people refuse to buy cars with autos because they cannot be bump started. There's a 1 in 109 chance of dying in a car crash. I don't know exactly what the odds are of dying from being unable to bump start a car but...I'm going to bet it's a lot lower than 1 in 109.)
Animal strikes are common. When Bullwinkle jumps out of the ditch in front of me, I need to stop, but weight really makes that difficult because it's proportional -- a 4000 lbs object will require twice the stopping distance of a 2000 lbs object, all other things being equal. So imagine we have two trucks on the same tires and Bullwinkle is 100 feet away. The 5000 lbs truck needs 70 feet to stop. The 6700 lbs truck hits the moose (I'd suggest double checking my math...I'm really fast at math. Not accurate...just fast!). This is a simplified example but what does that look like in the real world?
The 5000 lbs truck is about 1000 lbs under GVM, and a common figure for payload of these trucks is about 1500 lbs. So thats a single person with a big dog and a backpacker's approach to camping, with basic emergency gear in our 5,000 lbs truck. For the 6700 lbs truck -- well, It doesn't take much to hit 1700 extra pounds of stuff: Bumper front and rear with winch up front (250 lbs). Skid plates (100 lbs). Big tires (25 extra lbs each with a full size spare so 125 lbs). Roof tent (150 lbs). Awning (50 lbs). Fridge (40 lbs....70lbs if you drink a lot of beer). Second battery with wiring etc. (150 lbs) -- I've just described a pretty typical build in the Overland community using relatively conservative numbers, and I'm already over 850 lbs in kit before I've even included the driver and his or her essentials, and note I've not included spare gas, water, a roof rack, the recovery kit, food, or anything like that yet. The point is it's easy to be way over weight without realizing it, because it adds up fast, and that weight is the difference between hitting the moose and not hitting it.
NoDak
Well-known member
Looks pretty specific to commercial vehicles.
Old Tanker
Active member
Back up a few sections and you'll find this:
" 2353. Weight limits. Except as provided in section 2355, the following gross vehicle weight limits apply to vehicles operating on a public way:
A. For a 2-axle vehicle, 34,000 pounds"
Section 2355 has a formula based on distance between axles. A 4Runner with a 9 foot wheelbase has a limit of 39,000 lbs.
WOW...I guess you can go ahead and put that host camper on a Tacoma and let er rip in Maine....lol
billiebob
Well-known member
Exactly, the Power Wagon may have the same 2500 frame but the Power Wagon is built for off road articulation. Trucks built to max out payload are not built to articulate.
However, the rating plate on the a pillar is gospel. Changing it would require an Engineers Seal, which means the Engineer is accepting Liability, hence all Engineers have Errors and Omissions Insurance. Which happens often in Commercial Trucking.
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billiebob
Well-known member
I guarantee EVERY state and province has a law like this. Often hard to find but it'll be there somewhere.
Violation of weight provision. A person who operates or causes operation of a motor vehicle in violation of a weight provision for any axle or group of axles or gross vehicle weight commits a traffic infraction if the vehicle is:
A. One percent to 10% over allowed basic weight;
calicamper
Expedition Leader
Nope! My Indiana family is over GVWR every time they take the Buick to Chik-fil.