Tim and other Mil Veh folks:
Since you were thinking about purchasing a commercial-civy tractor/trailer combo
to haul a larger rig ........and I have been pondering the same for a long
time... I'd like to pose a couple questions.
1. To maintain non-commercial status and not require a CDL (at least in Indiana)
you can't haul other people's stuff for pay and you have to declare your rig a
farm truck. OK, so say I only haul my half-track or whatever and and want to
maintain my non-CDL/non commercial status. According to one law I saw, this
meant I could not wander more than 150 miles or so from my home base. Does
anyone ever check that? And if so, who would it be?? You can bet that a lot of
farmers haul equipment and cattle more than 150 miles or so. I'm thinking that
a 80's Freightliner with a nice 40 ft flatbed would move MVs very nicely.
2. I have seen (one is in the local trade rag today) semi rigs converted to
campers. The one I just saw was a full blown tandem axle tractor, with a 40 box
trailer. The front 24 feet of the box trailer was converted to liveable
quarters and the rest was left to move whatever (empy box). The tractor itself
was left as is and the owner says it is registered as an RV. Does anyone
have any experience with such a rig? It seems to me that this might be the
ideal MV mover/camper setup. Would this RV be accepted in most campgrounds?
It seems to me that it might scare the hell out of some campground operators.
All of the comercial versions of a semi transformed to a camper I have seen have
had a single axle tractor with a long..... box behind the cab which served as
the camper, then they ussually offer a tag trailer with a pintle hitch so you
can haul your favorite extra vehicles.
3. Would there be any benefit on trying to obtain a single axle tractor instead
of a tandem axle unit regarding making it an RV, getting by with no CDL, etc.
Remember in most of the US, RV's don't require CDLs at all.
Tim and others, what is your thinking on this idea off. Seems like a good one.
I just want to avoid the pitfalls before I get pulled over and cited! Like you
said there are a lot of tandem axle tractors around that companies are trying to
dump that have a lot of miles left.
Dave
Rikk Rogers wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy Smith [mailto:timothy.smith1@worldnet.att.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 12:56 AM
> To: Rikk Rogers
> Subject: Re: [MV] trailer laws -military low boy question
>
> Wellllllllll.......I was gonna sit this one out, but since you
> asked..........
>
> Your state's laws may vary somewhat but G E N E R A L L Y they would likely
> park an oversize vehicle/load/whatever and require that a permit (cha-ching!
> $$$) be obtained before further movement is made (and lets not forget that
> some cities even have a curfew on movement of extradimensional
> loads/vehicles/whatever during certain hours!) Doubt they would impound
> it........the nice folks at the pound don't like really big stuff on their
> little tiny lot.
>
> As for the list member that suggested that unless part of the load was
> hanging over the edges of the trailer it would likely not be detected as
> overwidth.......well, I beg to differ. Even the lowliest officer spends a
> lot of time behind the wheel (and other motorists) and could easily detect
> that the vehicle is oversized and make the stop..if for nothing more than to
> verify his suspicions. What your average officer would do at that point is
> anyone's guess. The DOT or License and Weight officer (as you know, I am
> both) would certainly take action (cha-cing! $$$ again).
>
> My feelings on this are simple.....don't buy it if it is overwidth even if
> its a good deal unless you really REALLY need it (does he own a tank or
> something?) There are lots of trucks and trailers out there and the
> trucking industry is on the ropes right now. (I do NOT want to hear the
> Death On Truckers DOT routine from the DOT-haters cause it ain't our
> fault......its fuel costs, brothers, plain and simple) Lots of good deals
> out there for guys like us who want to pick up some civilian commercial
> sized equipment cheap (you can be assured I am probably gonna buy a truck
> tractor very soon for myself...and I have a very nice one picked out by the
> way....then I gonna look for a trailer!) so that we MV collectors can make
> the logical evolution and move up to something like a half-track or larger
> when the opportunity presents itself. After all, isn"t that what its all
> about? Besides, civilian equipment (for this purpose anyway) is typically a
> more road-friendly and more economical solution to a very practical
> problem....moving your big, expensive HMV to somewhere you can enjoy it
> more. How many of us know the guy with a half track that sits and sits and
> sits because the owner can't take it anywhere by himself. I know a couple
> guys like that and it sucks!
>
> On the topic of trucks......You can pick up a fleet maintained truck tractor
> right now (with decent sized sleeper) with about 3/4 of its comercial
> service life gone (about 750,000 miles on the clock) for less than the cost
> of an average new pickup truck. That leaves you about 250.000 miles to play
> with since most modern big diesels are good for a million miles. So if you
> drive it maybe 10.000 miles each year.....well....do the math. I just saw
> some 45' floats (flatbeds to you greenhorns) go for $750 a piece at the GSA
> not too long ago. Lowboys and drop-decks will cost more of course (or you
> can go with a slightly smaller gooseneck trailer.) LOTS of options out
> there. Belly up to the bar....pony up the dough and enjoy your HMV the way
> you ought to be enjoying it. And by the way......properly kitted out......a
> truck tractor with a decent sleeper makes a helluva RV.
>
> Now I shall prepare myself for the next onslaught of CDL questions. Whew!
>
> TJ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rikk Rogers <rkltd@swbell.net>
> To: Military Vehicles Mailing List <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 4:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [MV] trailer laws -military low boy question
>
> I think you will find that if you do a little research on overweight/size
> you may well find they can stop and hold your vehicle, possibly impound it.
>
> Timothy Smith, how far out am I on this?
>
> Rikk Rogers - RK Lion LTD.
> (580)762-3157 rkltd@swbell.net
> http://home.swbell.net/rkltd/
> -M35A2- MVPA -22345-
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 04 2001 - 08:10:47 PDT