Boulevard

I hear a lot of people talking about trailer weights, overloaded trucks, etc. but has anyone actually been pulled over by the Ministry or by the cops for a weight check? If you were overloaded than what were you charged with? Has anyone been in an accident and had their insurance pulled for being overloaded? Has anyone actually talked to the M of T to get their take on overloaded private vehicles vis a vis travel trailers (hint; I have talked to 2 so far). Why ask? Why not ask. I want to know and maybe others do to.

smurfs_of_war

You've talked to two so far, what were the replies they gave you?

KingRancher05

I've been pulled over for carrying a load too wide without permits I was towing an old grain bin that was 18' wide x 35' tall was overloaded and was caught on a state highway moving it from one farm to the next deputy and highway patrolman basically told me to add a wide load banner and get more flashing lights I have farm tags on my truck and I'm guessing that's what saved me I got away with only a warning for improper load restraints for only having 3 straps on my load and they said I needed 4

KingRancher05

^^^^ it was obviously laying down while I towed it on a trailer

smurfs_of_war

Well, just for the sake of posting the information- I will put up exactly what the response was that my buddy gave me when I messaged him about this:

"It is not something we do. Transpot Compliance on the other hand do have scales and do vehicle weight ect...that is more their mandate than ours. However, we as a national police force do enforce and lay charges regarding any contravention of any Act. I do not pull over a vehicle for the sole purpose to determine its weight. I am busier with really bad guys in the area"

He's an RCMP member. Now, if you go through the Government information, you will see that the Ministry of Highways and Transportation (Transport Compliance) only has information on commercial vehicles. The reason behind this is because the private vehicles are actually governed by SGI here. SGI's information online regarding vehicle weights and regulations can be found here:

http://www.sgi.sk.ca/individuals/reg.../capacity.html

Pretty sparse, isn't it? My wife is an insurance broker- has been for years. She says that the rule here is- 2xGVWR is the maximum weight you can be, no matter the GCWR on your vehicle. You are insured accordingly, and you are required to obtain a special addition to your license for weight (for example I boost mine to 14,000lbs) which is really more of a tax than anything for road maintenance. 14,000lbs gives me room since that is more than 2x my GVWR.

Transport Compliance guidelines differ from province to province here. But, I think it was said best in his response: "I do not pull over a vehicle for the sole purpose to determine its weight. I am busier with really bad guys in the area"

This went on a bit further with him as well- but to paraphrase, his mandate is public safety. If he saw a vehicle that was grossly overloaded, and was wallowing and wandering around and didn't seem in control, he would absolutely pull it over based on the safety of the public at large and at that time, would get Transport Compliance involved in order to assess the charges he was allowed to lay. It's all common sense. If they (Transport Compliance or the RCMP) had the mandate of policing all of the private vehicles for weight compliance, they would be pulling over EVERY farmer in Saskatchewan. It's tough to tell what is actually overloaded. A vehicle with a travel trailer on ball might actually have less of a load than the next half ton with a bed full of parts heading to the field.

tcp2

In the seismic industry here in Alberta, we regularly "upgraded' the suspension and load carrying abilities of our F350s, F450s and f550s. After doing so, it was up to us as to what GVWR we wanted to register the trucks for. If we planned on carrying heavier loads than the manufacturer originally specified the truck for, we would just increase the weight on the registration. It cost more to register them that way, but you could go through the scales at whatever weight you were registered for as long as you weren't over. The original GVWR be damned. We always had TARE and GVWR stickers on the doors. Not sure if that helps.

Boulevard

The 2 MOT guys that I spoke to and the 1 cop said they WILL NOT pull over a private vehicle unless the violation is obvious.

montanaman

You're not required to even stop at the scale unless you are in a vehicle or combination of vehicles registered over 26,000 lbs - re: a Commercial Vehicle, for which you would need a CDL anyway.

We have this debate every week - a F350 King Ranch, pulling a gooseneck might be over 26,000#, but isn't considered a commercial vehicle unless it's registered that way.

jeffinthebag

Re montonaman.
That is 100% false. For a fact, all commercial vehicles 10,000lbs or greater need to stop at the weighing scales in NJ, CT, PA, OH, DE, MD, NY, VA and Rhode Island. Also you must have the 2 year manditory DOT physical card in your possession and you MUST be completing the log books. In states like VA, ANY vehicle public, commercial or private over 5 tons (10,000 lbs) must stop including pickups with campers or boats.
The fine for running past one of those weighing stations is, "failure observe controlled sign". Same as running a stop sign or traffic light. Most DOT police look the other way at pickups and campers, BUT BY LAW THEY DONT HAVE TO! Have seen a few ticketed for running the scales over the years.

coley909

I don't think your right about being forced to stop at scales. In PA we have to register combination and have a medical card on us. We get stopped up here a lot by DOT not police they scale ya and its usually a 1$ per pound over weight fine.

It's happened to my friend who works for a rental company and delivers skid steers and such

My father law's f350 is registered combination and he does not have a CDL to my knowledge. Campers and RV's are excluded from the law as well.

When you do get pulled over they check every light bulb tire brake line brake pads everything. That's why I use a 12k hitch and use a 12k ball even though my truck isn't rated that high but better safe then sorry. You could spend a couple hours pulled over if your are not equipped correctly. DOT is insane around here but I have never seen a regular truck f350 or anything besides a tractor trailer use the scales unless your curious about weight.