Questions about Hauling into Ca with an old Pete

Not for hire has meaning really. Ehat matters is if you are commercial or not.
Do you race or show the horses with the chance of proze money? If so you are commercial and will be treated just like any livestock hauler. If it is personal, then hopefully they get back to you shortly...

 

Hi Doug, and thank you for the info!

I guess I should clarify more - I will keep my Duramax for sure as I use it for other things and hauling the smaller trailer etc. I don't always drive back and forth, 75% of the time I fly, especially this year it is even more, I did not even bring the horses back up this year LOL.

Normally I would drive down with the 4 horse head to head trailer and whatever crap I want to take in the front tack - my gooseneck is modified - it is not an RV but it is comfortable to sleep in and has power. I leave the horses down in Ca for 2-4 months, sometimes longer if they go to Nevada. So I then go get a load of hay although it is 3-4 runs in the pick up. My current flatbed trailer is a 13K bumper pull but my uncle will sell me a much bigger gooseneck flatbed trailer for a good price. My father used to race Model T Speedsters and I am not racing his cars so I would haul them from time to time. We own a bunch of tractors (you could have called him a collector.. of lots of rusty stuff lol) that get shuffled around. I have a small property in farther north Ca that I go back and forth to a couple times a year - basically just running around. So I thought I can leave the Pete stored at the Ca property when not using, haul with it when needed, make a run here and there north if I have to, and then not have to leave my Duramax wherever the horses are if I don't want to, if that makes sense?

And yes, I would much rather drive the Duramax back to AK, which is part of the point ha!

 

We should have the freedom to move about as a private citizen doing non-commercial things, but like other stuff the government has a way of interfering with that. Are you currently moving loads of hay to Alaska with your pickup? Once you get in the habit of moving more stuff than just your horses is when life is going to get more difficult.

 

Not for hire means nothing. Don’t even put it on the truck.

Go to the Alaska dmv, asked them how to plate it as a non-commercial vehicle.

They do this with class 8 vehicles like yours, I bought my class 8 toter truck from a couple from Alaska who licensed it as a non-commercial vehicle, I added a 115” sleeper and had the title changed to a motor home.

Once you are a non-commercial vehicle, it is a huge pickup truck.

 

I heard as long as you have a fifth wheel, you’re a commercial vehicle and have to follow the rules of one. Take that sucker off and technically you’re an RV. Can even register it as such. But my sources are questionable at best, so I would definitely check the websites for info.

 

Still need a fifth-wheel for some travel trailers and horse trailers. Might be a smaller size fifth-wheel, but still a fifth-wheel.

 

You've heard wrong.

 

Yeah I meant the ones used for pulling commercial trailers. I believe if you have one for pulling smaller trailers you can still register it as an RV. Just can’t have to big one.

 

Well like I said my sources were questionable at best. That’s why I would’ve checked the websites or got more reliable info.

 

Yeah, can hear lots of BS from other drivers.
One big story I remember is that drivers had to use white sheets in the sleeper or would be shut down at the scales until they changed the sheets.