Moving soon, how strict are the states listed?

i will be moving from San Diego CA to Harrisburg PA at the end of the month.

i will be driving from temecula CA to Pima AZ then to Alb. NM then to harrisburg.

i HAVE to stop in Pima to pick up the trailer/19.5's/finish gauge install and say hello to a great friend. i HAVE to stop in Alb to see a good friend/HS buddy.

after that the route is planed to hit the following major cities/states.
i will be towing my 32 foot GN and be overweight. my major concern is the fact of being overweight. i dont want to find out that in certain areas i am required to pull over at a scale. i DOUBT i will have any issues, but wanted to double check.

Amarillo TX
Oklahoma OK
Little rock AR
Memphis TN
Nashville TN
Knoxville TN
Christianburg VA
Winchester MD
then into harrisburg PA.

thanks for any and i mean ANY input....
Grant

p.s. i will be moving to the town of red lion PA. i will be the local Marine Corps Recruiter... WHOOHOO!!
__________________

 

I will check with my brother and friends that tow 3 car trailers with pickups about VA. I know that VDOT seems to be a PITA about overweight trucks, but they seem to only enforce limits in place for larger trucks. I will get back to you.

If you need a place to stay here in Christiansburg, let me know. We will at least need to get together for a beer. Keep in touch.

 

thanks for looking into that for me, and also thanks for the offer. i will be doing the truck stop thing, sleeping whenever i need. if it looks like ill be stoping in the area ill PM ya on the road.
thanks again.

 

Made the trip past the Scales in Troutville, just north of Christiansburg, pulling a gooseneck (moving the kids in and out of Virginia Tech) and never stopped at the scales, and was never bothered. I beleive that as long as you do not have any commerical markings, they don't bother you. Been north to Winchester once with the trailer the scales to the south, same thing, but was hauling a old John Deere this time.

 

yeah, i have "Not for hire" in two spots down each side of the trailer.

just to set things strait so i dont get flamed here like i did at TDR, i dont tow overweight because i like to. i do it because i have to. so dont bust my balls about it.... not that any of you have yet, but i just want that out there.
Grant

 

Just curious, what do you estimate your gross weight will be? And how much over will it be? I tow with my 1/2 ton Z71 with no trailer brakes and I'm almost overweight with just an empty trailer. Putting 6,000+ pound of scrap maetal on the trailer doesn't help much... so, you won't receive any criticism from me....


I'm not sure about pick-up trucks, but the DOT is a PITA in Va in a semi truck. MD isn't quite as bad.



.

 

last time my weight was just around 26,580. ful tank, me in the truck. this is everything i own. i do mean everything.

i will be a bit heavier this time as i will be hauling a bit more... spare parts around.

Grant

 

Here's what I can tell you about TN. As long as you look safe you'll be ok, I've seen alot of scary things get by. They don't tend to pay any attention unless you are obviously commercial. I have heard a first hand account of a 1-ton with a gooseneck being made to turn around and go back to a weight station, but he was grossly overwieght and had the company name plastered on the side of the truck. The wieght station between Memphis and Nashville is around mile 50. I'm not as familier with east of Nashville but I believe there is another one just before Knoxville. But it shouldn't matter as you don't have to stop.

The only other thing I might suggest is going through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The reason I say that is I think you would have less hills to deal with although it would be less scenic. Even though I know your cummins won't have a problem with hills it would still make the drive easier. Unless pulling the hills is what you like to do. waytogo I knew a guy that went to college down here that was from upstate new york and he went back through Kentuky and Ohio and said it was an easier drive without the hills.

One more thing if you do come this way let me know and I'll tell you when and how to best get through Memphis. There is construction as usual and they have seriously messed up the interstate in places.

 

The weight station is right before Knoxville you should be ok my friends run 40k on thier 350's down to Atlanta with produce with out trouble not past Knoxville of course.They seem to turn a blind eye to non commercial vehicles down here.

 

I don't care if you are overloaded because made a mistake or purposely did it or not, your still overloaded.

When one of my trucks are overloaded (over 80K), I send them back to the field or back to the plant to shed product and get it below max weight, regardless if it was someone's mistake or the shipper trying to get more product on the truck on purpose.

It's your rig, but if you are overloaded you are at a big risk. If you go through the scales and are overloaded enough, you will get red taged at the scale and not allowed to leave until you are under the legal GCWR. Think I am joking? I don't even want to count how many times I've had to hire a forklift to come out to a weigh station, send one of my empty trucks also, and have the hired lift transfer material. Wanna take a guess what that costs?

Don't get me started on insurance liability, you get in a wreck overloaded, REGARDLESS if it's your fault or not, and you could have your butt sued off.

Shed the weight down below GCWR for the trip and you don't have to worry about a thing. If you have to make two trips, too bad. This could also be a good time to go buy that medium duty you have been talking about.

 

26,580...
I would say to blow off the scales as they are mainly concerned with the big trucks and not the little guys unless they are commercial with signs showing.
HOWEVER!!!! If you do get weighed then you will find that you must have a CDL for anything over 26,000# and in your case a Class A CDL.
DOT will make you drop your trailer and you may be able to unload the contents of the truck and come back to take some of the contents out of the trailer and leave that with the first load and then if you are under the weight limit leave with the trailer...after you have paid the fines involved.

I have to ask, why are you moving your own stuff if the military is transfering you. I know that it's a real pain in the butt but it's got to be better than moving it yourself and less expensive. But on second thought I moved myself when I traded duty stations with another guy.

Good Luck, travel at night.

Old Trucker

 

i DO NOT have a choice to make two trips. in the past, yes, i have had a choice of sorts. this time, i have no choice. i want my things with me all at once for the first time in a couple years. i want to be able to work on my trucks with all of my tools present. i want to be able to get my tools back into condition and start building my collection again. ya know what sucks? even after moving everything, overweight or not, i WONT HAVE TIME to do ANY of this let alone make a second trip.

im not saying you dont have a busy work schedule, nor am i saying you have never worked a busy schedule. here is the deal... 6 days a week 14 hour days are NOT abnormal. 7 day work weeks, including federal hilidays are NOT abnormal.

i am FORCED to take 42 days off BEFORE i go to recruiting duty because for the next 3 years i wont have much time off.

Grant

 

i have been thinking HEAVY abot this one. less hills = better mpg...

so i am leaning that way big time...

 

Grant,

Ignore Mr. Perfect. I am sure he always does the speed limit, obeys all other traffic laws, and color matches his outfit to Dodge red everyday .

I checked with my brother (he tows with a SRW Chevrolet Duramax with a 3 car trailer mostly around MD/DC/NorthernVA, and is almost always over GCWR). His advice was to ignore weigh stations. As long as you have no signage, and don't look like you are hauling for business, they will ignore you as stated earlier. Another peice of advice he had for you, is to try and balance the load as much as you can to keep excess weight off of the truck. That way if you are weighed, the truck hopefully will be close to Dodge spec's. You have more then enough trailer for that weight (as long as your trailer has brakes on all of the axles).

I will send you a PM now with my information. If you end up headed this way, let me know, and I will be available if you need anything.

 

yes, the trailer has brakes on all three axles, i made sure of that when i ordered it. i also have the jake E brake. the truck stops MUCh faster with the trailer than without.

i got your PM, thanks again. i hope i dont need to call, but as always if i have to, thanks again.
Grant

 

Sorry if I come on strong, but I am in the commercial transport business and know a few things about what the DOT will do with overweight vehicles.

It's up to you, if you'd like to risk it, GO for it! Sounds like you already made up your mind on what to do. You may or may not make it without any problems at all.

I think your rig would make it fine, the added braking power of the exhaust brake should be worth adding a K or 2. It's just the liability and DOT problems that would worry me.

Do what you like, after all it's your plans.

 

im not asking opinion on me being overweight, im asking if i will have troubles with scales. i KNOW the issues with getting caught, and can not afford it. but i dont have a choice....

 

Sounds like you are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. If you have to do it, than thats what you have to do. Just hope you have a little luck on your side.

Years ago, my pop made a trip from Cali to Texas with our triple axle goose and weighed about 30K. He made two trips, and had some trouble at the port of entry going into Arizona or something, can't remember exactly. An officer started asking questions, but he was able to talk himself out of it. Hopefully you will have similar luck, don't know what else to say.:dunno:

 

Act dumb if you get pulled over, I mean really really dumb. I live in Minnesota and they put cops on the roads now looking for vehicles just like yours.
Stay out of ST Louis MO the local cops are acting as the DOT in blue dodge pickups. Good luck you'll need it.
George

 

I feel your pain with that Recruiting Duty in PA. Next month I hit my 9 month window. I did a cross country trip last summer back home to UT. I strongly recomend taking the flat route. I will tell you to watch out once you get to PA. The State boys have check points all over the place on the state routes and they carry the portable scales. I am located in Indaina PA so if you run into any trouble once you get close shoot me a line. waytogo