CDL Requirement

I drive a 2015 Dodge diesel Crew cab and pull a goose neck trailer. The combined GCWR of this vehicle is 25,500 LBS. I was ticket for driving without a CDL because the GVWR of the truck and trailer when added together exceed 26,000 lbs. Is this correct? My belief was that because the truck GCWR was below the 26,001 lbs and limits my total legal towing weight to 25,500 lbs I did not require a CDL. Ticket was issued in Maryland. I know have to back there to appear in court. Any help appreciated.

 

It's the weight rating, Jack. GVWR. I saw a Colorado trooper pull a kid out of a hotshot like that for the same reason. Told him drop the trailer or call his boss and get somebody with the proper license to come out and drive it.

 

OP, you mentioned where you received the ticket, but you didn't mention the state in which you are licensed. I am in TN, and I recently explored this personally. In my case, the truck has a GVWR of 11,000 while the trailer's is 14,000 for a total of 25k. As I interpret the chart below, I would not need the CDL-A even though the trailer is over 10k because the total is below 26k, I am not transporting passengers, and I am not hauling hazmat. Here is a diagram from the TN documentation:



Am I understanding this correctly? If not, will someone please enlighten me?

 

I was driving for the company I work for, The goose neck is an enclosed trailer. The truck and trailer weighed less than 26,000 LBS. Dodge says the GCWR is 25,500 and we never go over that. The truck has GVWR 10,000 and the trailer GVWR is 21,000. What I read from the chart above is no CDL required because the truck GCWR is under 26,001 am I wrong on this?

 

I think you may be confusing the GCWR with the GVWR. The latter is what is referenced by the above chart. In your case, since your combined GVWR would be 31,000, you would answer YES to the first question. Then, you would also answer YES to the next question because you are towing a unit that is over 10,000 GVWR--21,000 in your case. Based on that, it appears you would require a CDL-A in Tennessee.

Having said that, it's possible that you could go to court and plead for mercy since it doesn't sound like you were just trying to blatantly ignore the rules. (I do understand that "ignorance is no excuse", etc, but that is probably what I would do in your shoes.) I have no personal experience in that context, but I am sure there will be others on here who can share more insight.

 

I see what you are saying but neither vehicle have a manufactured GVWR above 26,000 and you can not add GVWRs to get a useful number of the capacity you can tow. That is why tow vehicles come with a manufacturers GCWR. Or so I thought. Of course if I was dead certain I would not be posting here and really appreciate your words.

 

I understand that it is confusing. I am not 100% certain my interpretation is accurate either. Hopefully some of the more experienced will chime in.

Out of curiosity, how much is the ticket?

 

$1000 and must return to appear. Lovely

 

Ouch!