Do I need my cdl?!?!

NO, with respect your misinterpreting the CDL law and what it means. A commercial Vehicle is defined as ANY vehicle over 10,001 GVWR, has any hazmat requiring placards or a vehicle that carries more then 16 people. The CDL law kicks in if said vehicle is over 26,001 has hazmat or carries more then 16 people. For intrastate some states define commercial vehicles differently. There is a guy that lives very close to me that drives a small flatbed truck over to Kentucky from Virginia and back 2 times a week. Has driven this route for years now. His truck has a GVWR of somewhere around 18,000 pounds. He has never got a CDL and has no plans to do so. However he does carry a medical card and logs.

 

If the truck's gvwr (gross vehicle weight rating) is 12k and the trailer's gvwr is 12k, your gcwr (gross combination weight rating) is only 24k...which is less than 26,001 and therefore only a class C is needed. If, however, the truck has a gvwr of 14,500 and the trailer has a 12k gvwr, now you're gcwr is over 26k and your trailer exceeds 10k, so you need the class A. If your truck was 18k and trailer 9k, you'd be OK with a class B, because while you are over 26k gcwr, your trailer is under 10k.

 

It is what it is rated to weigh.... Combined... So truck can haul (including it's weight) 12001 trailer can haul (including it's weight) 14k CDL required

It's the difference between GVW and GVWR CDL requirements are based off GVWR not GVW

 

Actually you could drive that with a class C. Class B is power unit 26,001 or more and no trailer or trailer less than 10,001. With a class C you could drive a 26,000 lb truck with a 10,000 lb trailer.

It is a weird quirk in the law read the definitions carefully. Class A is gcwr over 26,000 AND trailer over 10,000. Class B is power unit over 26,000 and no trailer or trailer 10,000 or less. Class C is vehicles that don’t fall into class A or B. A 26k truck and 10k trailer isn’t class A because trailer isn’t over 10k and it isn’t class B because power unit isn’t over 26k so by definition it is class C. Joe blows rent those 26k uhaul trucks and put small car dolly trailers behind them all the time.

 

Thats up to 26,000 pounds and enforcement goes by that tag put in the drivers side door of the truck. I know of no class 7 or class 8 truck used in intra or interstate commerce that has a GVWR under 26,001 most actually are closer to 33,000 and over.

 

While true. We are talking class 2 or 3 trucks here. At most a class 4.

 

Your right. I was multitasking I should have made a better comment.

 

And the funny part of it all is if I am reading the regs right, I can go buy a class 8 truck use it to pull an RV and as long as it is not commercial I don't think I need a CDL. The US has some really strange rules and laws in this area.