40 on a 38 and beyond 65 - Advice on overhang laws?

You could check out the combination length laws for the jurisdictions you'd be traveling & make the call from there. Some don't have the '65 law. I had roughly the same setup as you but older. A '12 ram & a 39' hotshot to be right at '65 overall length. I've pulled countless empty 40's, or 2 20's or 2 20' iso tanks with no issue. You'd be like 4-6" over '65 & they generally don't care about inches. Of all the level 1's I've had, not a one of them ever measured my total length. It's a judgement call, & your doing the right thing by being cautious, but sometimes you gotta take a small gamble.. By gamble I mean one that does not jeopardize the public or your safety, but inches in length will usually get a pass. Good luck out there..

 

I’m still trying to figure out how all these 4 door duallys run a 40’. I’m 63 ft with a 36. Instead of removing the bed I went with a pj 36’. It’s challenging to load but I do it. I see 4 door duallys, ford chevy dodge. They’re all within inches Of each other. Pulling 40’ gooses all over the country and unless it’s specially ordered with a 2’ shorter neck they’re over 65’. They can’t be paying constant tickets so I’d guess nobody cares.

 

There's a video on youtube of a guy & his brother in a 5500 with a steel flatbed on it. He's pulling a 53' enclosed car hauler. He gets cited for window tint & over length. Tries to tell the law he under 65' & out comes the tape, LoL.. Think he was about 72' & change long. It can & does happen.

PJ's also have the longest neck out there. On their deckovers, they are 9' long. Most have a 8'-8'5" necks. New crew Fords are 176" wheelbase vs. GM at only 167". The dodge mega cab @160" will be 65' with 40' deckover gooseneck except the PJ.

 

That’s Renee with Southbeach Transport in his new truck. He had a truck with a bed on it, the old one didn’t have a bed. He had his brother riding with him. The DOT guy was real cool with him too, I would have been a little irritated. I was a little surprised Renee would do that. But hey, it’s not on me. I like your numbers up there. Good hard facts. I don’t see many Chevys at all. Not many mega cabs. Mostly fords and dodges crew with 40’s. My 36’ is ok. But next year my goal is to remove the bed and go with a 40’ pierced frame. I load cars too and my deck at 41” really chokes out a lot of cars unless you want to block the wheels and all that. I do it because it pays the bills. But loading a minivan one day the cystomer said “I don’t think the van is meant to go on the trailer”. I had wood stacked/ ramped up for the back tires to make the break over angle more agreeable. I said well it’s a little more work. But she really wants to go on that trailer. As I’m sweating my a&@ off in the texas heat. Guy with the 3 car wedge next to me just drives 2 mustangs on and starts sipping Gatorade...........

 

Yeah, a 33" lo-pro is way better if you do alot of ramp loading. I do lots of rental yard transfers. My '12 ram was a 169" wheelbase. 39' deck length trailer, loadmax has a 101" neck. Bout 39" front axle to bumper. That's 777" overall. My goose ball was 2" ahead of the rear axle. I came in at 64'7".

I only ever hauled a hand full a vehicles the whole time I had it. All bigger trucks, & suv's I was able to get freight rates on. Even with that low deck, a 2wd f150 front air dam would rub, & still required wood blocking to get loaded & unloaded..

 

Believe it or not I loaded an f250 single cab 4x4 with a service bed last week and the front air dam was 1/2” from rubbing. I needed a ladder to climb into the thing but the air dam almost touched. All about wind and mpg. Extended cab f250 diesel 2wd week before that. Needed to block the rear tires 4” to clear humongous muffler on the break over. Same truck in a dodge same week. No issues.