Very unique situation - dot rules?

The promo truck was used for hauling during its tours. They also got tens of thousands of dollars for each appearance they did

 

Looked up some of the rules. Direct from the PA DMV site:

"If you own a van that you want to register as a motorhome, the state requires that its interior be fitted with a permanent bed, kitchen facilities, and/or a desk."

Questionable whether or not the rig will qualify under those terms. I wonder if just having a refrigerator would be enough under the 'kitchen facilities' clause.

 

Might be better to ask on that forum, those guys should know better than we do over here

 

Most likely because it was being operated by a paid driver working for a movie industry tour company, so it was commercial use. The OP will own his truck and is doing it as a hobby, no financial gain so he should be ok.

 

Being promotional it's being used commercially and has a business name on it.

 

There is no such thing as a "non-commercial CDL". The "C" in CDL is "Commercial". Saying "non-commercial CDL" makes about as much sense as the kid at McDonald's asking if you want cheese on that "quarter pounder with cheese" you just ordered. Of course I want cheese, otherwise I wouldn't have ordered a quarter pounder WITH CHEESE!

I don't know about the other 49 states, but here in Illinois, you are required to have a license for whatever class vehicle you are operating. If you will be driving the vehicle commercially, then it needs to be a CDL. Otherwise, just a regular DL of the proper classification will suffice. A farmer, for example, can run a T/T hauling his grain from the field to the elevator with a class A DL. Only if he hauls for hire (his neighbor pays him to haul his neighbor's grain) would that farmer need a class A CDL.

 

He was a Pete in the first rebooted movie. A modified 359 I believe. After that, I really didn't watch them, but they "upgraded" to the new Western Star 5700 XE (a good looking aero truck for pulling a van, but not really a good movie truck).

The old animated Optimus was not a defined truck make. He was closest to a 352 Pete COE I think, but there were some things that were a little off.

The only Transformers that I was big into was Beast Wars and Beast Machines. And I'm sorry if that makes anyone feel old (for me being so young).

I look forward to seeing pictures OP! Please post some of the build too if possible.

 

John,
I don't mean to be rude but there are a couple things you need to get straight before this happens.

The first thing is that if you can afford the truck, you can afford the proper lawyer to get this setup for you. I don't mean to be rude as I said but don't be a cheap guy and expect things to be alright once it is said and done. I can't see spending about $100k on a truck and not being able to spend $1k to get all the legal issues out of the way and another $1k in retainer fees so when you run into a problem, you've got someone who knows what you did to help you out.

I went the truck to RV route, I know the laws here in my state but still had my lawyer do the research, tell me the pros and cons about what I was going to do and have the guidelines to give to me to make the transition. I had to remove a few items to satisfy the Mich SoS and the MSP/Carrier Enforcement group (they had to do an inspection and fill out an affidavit for the title application, but those items were returned to the truck once the process was done (one item that you can't have on the truck is a truck fifth wheel, and RV fifth is alright but not the large one). I've been pulled over a lot of times, in my own state, even by one of the inspectors who signed off on the paper work (I think he wanted to see how it was going and couldn't just pull me over to ask. BUT especially in PA and CT, those times I told them either write a ticket or I will be on my way, with my lawyer on the phone. CT gave me the crap about scaling but as my lawyer said, they can say what they want, the law doesn't apply to foreign registered vehicles that are not commercial. OH and Illinois was another trouble state, I hate going there and will be in a few weeks to pick up a car I bought.

So don't be cheap.

Second thing is that you don't need permission for copyright use under the fair use clause of the laws but only if you are not using it other than as a personal vehicle. Going to a trade show is commercial thing unless there is a contest to see what prop is the best AND getting money for any reason makes it a commercial venture instantly, so back to my first point, your lawyer will tell you what you can and can not do with it and abide by his advice.

Otherwise, have fun with the project.

 

I would like to Second that motion...All in Favor?

 

Uhm, I don't think anyone here can say CT was 100% problem free! @Ridgeline lol