Different Laws in California

55 mph, stay out of the 2 left lanes, good chance you will get inspection and stay on the truck route.

 

KPRA law is the main one with a 53’. You have to be 40ft from your pin to the rear axle. Other than that there’s not much to worry about. You can run 60mph most everywhere and not get looked at.

 

I use to run CA everyweek for over 10 years from Midwest. Pay attention to brake check areas like Donner pass I-80 be sure to stop and actually get out and make a loop around your truck. They can and will write you for not checking your trucks brakes.
Grapevine I 5 north out of LA area north bound is right lane only. You may be tempted to get groggy and jump out and play Billy big rigger and pass some other slow trucks. Don’t they will nail your ### for improper lane usage. Down hill is 35 mph loaded empty or otherwise do it. Again improper lane usage ticket. Keep your ducks in a row and just ease along you’ll be fine. Chain law takes effect in sept across I80 thru to May. They don’t play with chain laws they will turn your ### around and send you back to Reno. Chain laws are thrown up prematurely usually to slow traffic and dumb ##### both truck drivers cars. Heavily traveled corridor.

 

Legally no. But I ran out there for a few years with a 52ft spread with my rear axle all the way to the rear before I got caught.

 

I drive in CA often. I'm here in Sacramento at the moment. Don't get discouraged by the rumors. But, there are a few things to be aware of.
1. Yes, speed limit for trucks in the whole state is 55. However, most cruise anywhere between 60 and 63. You can get a speeding ticket here (I did), but if you keep it under 65 it's doubtful any will pay attention to you. Often times, best to just kind of flow along with traffic. Most places if you are doing 55, you're going to be a nuisance and hazard to everyone else in traffic.
2. Kern County, which encompasses the Grapevine and a substantial are North is ticket prone. As mentioned they will nail you for being in the wrong lane going up or down the grapevine and about 15 miles North of the grapevine is where I got my speeding ticket. I was doing 65mph (governed truck on flat level terrain) and got written up for 66. At trial was reduced to 'between 1 and 9 mph over speed limit' and it cost me $489.
3. Thing I find most disappointing in CA is road conditions. They are often poor and for a state so imursed in car culture, you'd think they'd have better quality roads!
4. I've been driving (reefer) just shy of 3 years and have only ever had one DOT inspection, but it was in CA. So, I don't have an impression that CA is inspection prone. And, believe it or not, it's actually common at a weigh station that when you run across the scale, they don't actually weigh you. I picked up a load just South of LA heading to WA. Going up I-5 I got pulled through 2 weigh stations and rolled across both, no problems. Crossed into Oregon, first POE, I was 1700 lbs over on my tandems.
5. It's a big state so some helpful info, such as good places to park and to avoid and to eat, depend on where you are going in the State.
Hope that helps. I got no issues running in CA. But, I'm a company reefer driver, so many things for me aren't as complicated as it may be for an OO. I can't attest to those things.

 

If your used to driving at 55 mph you'll fit right in, I would not push it past 60 mph when your out on the highway lest the local sheriff, state troopers nab you.

 

We (California) have the best seat covers period. Enjoy the scenery . And they do enforce the bridge law. Hopefully you’ll have 8 to 10 feet sucked underneath on your last axle on your 53’.

 

Check the CA regs for kingpin to rear axle rules. Hearing how many years other drivers got away with something illegal in CA won't get you out of a ticket. CA is not only strict, they randomly enforce what rules they have. I never drove above 59 mph, many other trucks drive 62. Parking is at a premium everywhere. Reserve your paid parking early in the day. I-40 from AZ to Needles is desert and the CHP likes to sit in the bushes there.

Trucks are required to stay in the right 2 lanes of multi-lane roads. If you see a "Truck OK" sign over the road, it usually means several of the right lanes are soon to exit. On some exits they have signs that look like the back of a trailer with an S (semi trailers) and T (full trailers, like a grown up little red wagon) OK. Weigh stations open and close with no rhyme or reason, always be in a position to enter the scale until you have drive past the ramp. NONE of the 4-wheelers ever look when coming down the on-ramp. Many of the on-ramps are 2 feet long and cars enter at 4 miles and hour while playing on the phone.

 

Sorry, I meant Needles to Barstow is desert. CHP sits in the bushes. If you are loaded when you get to the Westbound Ag Check station, have your BOL ready and tell them what your hauling.