CROSSING STATE LINES

I am in Missouri, fairly close to Kansas city. I am looking into a box truck for my business to pick up inventory from the Kansas City area for my business. Due to the size of the truck I am considering, if I stay within the state. I guess I don't need a DOT number, thus I won't need to do all the reporting and record keeping. What I'm having trouble understanding is, if I am a delivery driver in KC I could drive in and around KC over into the Kansas side without a DOT number. But apparently because I am outside KC I cant't pick up product on both the Missouri and Kansas sides of the city without a DOT number. I can find within the codes where I would be exempt from the driver's service time records and all that, but I don't see any sort of exemption from a DOT number all together because the commerce city sits on both side of the state line. I find it odd that I can travel 200 miles in 3 directions without a DOT number but I can't travel 25 miles in the other direction without a DOT number because I will be crossing a state line. All while the city delivery guys can cross the line as much as they like making deliveries all over the city without a DOT number. (As long as they are the correct weight and so on) I have a pickup that I drive to KC and into Kansas regularly, that weighs nearly 7,000 lbs by itself. Add a full tank of gas, a large driver and passenger (or 3 passengers because it's a 4 door) and a pallet of Mortar Mix, and BOOM, I'm at or over my 10,001 limit for a DOT number. If I hook to my tandem axle trailer, I'm over before I ever leave town. Is there something out there I'm missing? It seems like there allot of vehicles out there that technically should have a DOT number but they don't.

 

The trailer thing is a catch 22. The rule says 10,001 combined weight. With my PU at 6900lbs, the smallest trailer I own puts me over because it has a 3500lb axel. I get what you are saying about the 150 mile radius and the commercial zone and that's exactly what I was thinking but it appears that only applies to record and time keeping, not any exemption from a DOT number in general. I can't confirm that in the manual anywhere.