Ed, State or not, the 10k trailer thing is a Federal DOT requirement. Last I heard, DOT was cracking down on the Hotshot drivers because a lot of them are not in compliance (the duallie pickups hauling 2,3,4 or however many cars on a trailer)
Mac -- Concur. The CDL requirements and definitions in the pdf are taken directly from the Federal Statute and are applied to commercial vehicles used for commercial purposes. The Federal rules do *not* address historic/collector (i.e., retired commercial) vehicles used for non-commercial purposes. It seems only the states do, and not uniformly by any stretch of the imagination. When I was hauling my 40-foot g/n trailer behind my duallie, I usually went through the scale houses (when they were open). My rig was new-ish, clean and my tiedowns were correct so I always got a green light -- I guess they figured if I pulled through, I wasn't afraid of a red light and thus probably had all my licenses and paperwork in order
. When Amtrakjoe and I made the run to Kansas City a few years ago in the 9500, I hit all the scale houses, too. Never got a red light. I guess if you look good, you are good
Also, having the "NOT FOR HIRE" signage on the door probably helped, too. Actually, for an antique truck not being driven for hire, it's required.
Vdb11 -- I would really think long and hard about using antique vehicles for commercial/for-hire hauling. Getting my '72 9500 into condition to pass the DOT inspection (part of the CDL test) was expensive and keeping it in compliance was going to be expensive ... obsolete airbrake components (wedge brakes!), tires, air system, switches, guages, air wipers, horns... just putting new tires on that rig ran $3,000. If you are going to haul commercial, you have to go in with a big upfront investment to have a safe, reliable and DOT-compliant rig, plus you need to haul a lot to recoup the investment. I failed the CDL test the first time because the truck did not pass the airbrake test. Fixing THAT got expensive. Were you planning on doing it for a regular day job? Or just here and there on the side as a hobby/something to do because you have a truck to do it with? If the latter, I gently suggest rethinking your plan. There is a reason you don't see too many antique commercial vehicles out on the job. May we suggest you consider keeping it on non-commercial/antique tags and using it for your own enjoyment rather than trying to work it for hire ... your stress level will be much lower.
If you do want to drive a big truck on the side (real CDL work), OPT's are the way to go (Other Peoples' Trucks)
John
