CDL a Necessary Evil?

That might be so in WV, but as far as I can tell, that doesn't fly for federal, who seems to say that any combination that exceeds 26K GVW or actual weight MUST have a CDL. Or, if you haul hazmat, etc.

 

Well i did some digging and heres what i found. I copied this from the fmcsa website

Class A -- Any combination of vehicles with a GCWR of 26,001 or more pounds provided the GVWR of the vehicle(s) being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.

Class B -- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of 10,000 pounds GVWR.

So if Im understanding correctly I beleave I am wrong and powerwagon is right. On a straight truck as long as its gvw is 26,000 or less no cdl. But when you add a trailer it apears that gvw on your truck still under 26,000 and trailer gvw still under 10,000 but where i beleave i was wrong is your total scaleing weight still cant exceed 26,000. So if your truck weighs 9000lbs and your trailer empty weighs 5000lbs 9,000+5,000 is 14,000lbs. 14,000-26,000=12,000lbs so you can haul 6 tons of weight before being over weight. So my previous post im pretty sure im wrong