Do I need a CDL if my truck is an F350? Confused on weights too!

Everything always looks great on paper until you actually start doing it then reality sets in really quick.

 

1. Pray
2. Avoid thinking everything is going to be Hunky Dory, easy money.

 

Dodge vs Ford Diesel engines only.

For load pulling, Dodge over Ford. It simply has a better power curve.

Fuel consumption, Dodge has made major progress in this area. Ask anyone who uses either, what their fuel economy is. Dead heading, 18-20 mpg is not uncommon with the new Dodge. The economy will drop when loaded. But it will still be better than Ford overall.

Reliability, of the 5 trucks used in my son in-laws business. 2 are Dodges, 1 Ford is sitting with the engine down. The other 2 Fords get used only when the Dodges are out. And pretty much are designated as crew trailer transports. Because they simply can’t handle the heavy equipment effectively. One piece of equipment can put him at gross. The Fords get worked on regularly. The Dodges don’t.

He also runs 2 Kenworths, irrelevant for your questions.

If you’re buying used, none of this matters.

 

No, I don't haul with a pickup and trailer. I run tankers these days.

When I first started working in 2000, after high school, I worked for a farm equipment dealer. They used to deliver the lawn equipment and smaller construction equipment with an F350 and a 24 foot gooseneck trailer. And that's what I started on before I got my CDL. Needless to say, I had more than a few run-ins with the law until I eventually got my CDL.

But, through all of it, I learned a few things about hauling with a pickup and trailer, and some of the laws pertaining to it.

I wasn't thinking you were trying to skirt any laws, and in fact, the company I worked for weren't either. They simply didn't know at the time, being the owners were as new to the business as I was (they had just bought the company).

Anyways, going back to the wear on the truck, some have suggested going with a heavier duty truck like a F450 or bigger. While I won't tell anyone what they should do, I can't say it's really worth the extra money. The trucks really aren't much different than the 350's or the 3500's. They may have a higher GCWR, but the components are pretty much the same. So they'll wear out just as fast. The truck is going to be a tool, and tools wear out. It's a fact of life. As long as it pays for itself and turns a profit, is there anything else that really matters?

I'm a Ford guy myself, but I have to agree with SteerTire on the Cummins engines. They're about as good as you're gonna get in a pickup.

 

I will put a note on the cummins for Dodge. I worked out of a auction house in little rock for a number of years as a crew boss around groups of CDL temps with big rigs using my experience with some of the older iron that shows up and so on.

All the pickup trucks Ive handled there, only the dodge with the cummins and shifting manually at 1500 stands out to me. I feel like I can stop the rotation of the planet with one of those. Never mind the ford-chevy etc. (I really don't have any loyality with the exception of the much older 351 cleveland and a number of chevies etc)

If it was my money Im going to try and find a desiel dodge with the manual. That way it would not be a problem towing or hauling etc. I had a dodge quad with a big gas engine in it and also a manual. Put away heavy loads of cut trees, probably a little more heavy than permitted by the vehicle's CG load chart in the glove compartment.

You would want to have a CDL in your pocket. That way you can pretty much put this question to rest and go. Usually when the Law sees a CDL with whatever vehicle you are in, you are going to recieve "Less flak" than those with just straight car licenses.

Be cautious if you decide to "Bulk up" the pickup by going 450, 550 etc. There I think in the 650 would be the maximum allowed a basic car license holder. With a CDL, you wont have to worry about it.

You appear to be in the Atlanta area, a pretty stronghold for cars of all kinds so this business will be around a while. Im not sure if I want to be involved in it though. I have transported a number of vehicles ranging from air start big rigs all the way down to coffin cars. (I dont have the spiritual problems most people have dealing with those)

I am sorry I cannot be more definate or specific about other questions you may have. Reading your thread, I kept remembering the Dodges with the cummins, little ones to be sure but amazing compared to what I drove with big rigs back in the day. That's part of one reason I like them. I don't have to think anything when driving them. The other part is that you can probably pull without overheating say a 350 in my tahoe which is not exactly a reliable horse in my stable. (I am working on it... maybe a bit more than I should, older vehicles you can always fix provided you have the money)

 

Question,
I am in Texas. My company has an f350 dually that has our DOT number on it. If they JUST DRIVE the truck do they need a CDL? I ask because it has the DOT number on it, but they will NOT be hauling a trailer that would put them in the Class A category.

Thank you

 

A CDL isn’t required for any single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,000 or less. Modern 1-ton duallies are 14,000 GVWR so not even close to needing one. You could even hook a trailer to it rated for up to 12,000 and still not need one. Hotshot guys skirt around this one all the time with careful truck and trailer selection, although I have a hunch they will put the clamp down on that somehow at some point.

 

#3 I believe is only true if the power unit itself requires a class B CDL to drive it. With a trailer rated for 10,001 or more hooked to it it now requires a class A CDL for combination vehicles. This is a bit of a loophole that still currently exists with the non CDL little trucks that I’d bet money the FMCSA will put the kybosh on at some point, which effectively would do away with non-CDL hotshot trucking. If they made it a hard rule that any trailer 10,001 or higher GVWR required a class A license to pull behind any truck with commercial numbers on it, that would probably get rid of 90-95% of them. You could still theoretically do non CDL hotshot with a 10k bumper pull like a 20ft deckover or 1-car trailer but that would be extremely limited to local work.