That's a first for me. Just saw the Ohio DOT on US 30 inspecting a Dually / Fifth Wheel Travel Trailer. Of course it was commercial (Transporter).

 

Yep, happens all the time. There is a UTuber that has a State Trooper showing what they usually do when they inspect these transporters. Pretty involved. This is why one should always make sure they are within weight specs when traveling with a 3/4 ton and up. If something looks out of place, they can assume the driver is commercial and pull them over for a spot inspection, first thing of course they will ask for a manifest, so make sure you have the registration for the trailer with at all times, then they will usually just give a cursory inspection and send you on your way. This more than likely happens when there is only a driver and no passengers.

The only difference between a Transporter and an RV are DOT numbers on the truck.

 

Keep in mind, OH has DOT/PUCO inspectors and troopers. Usually troopers are close by but its DOT guys doing these stops. They watch for DOT numbers and in transport or dealer tags to make the stops on RVs. They won't bother with obvious non comm stuff unless it looks glaringly unsafe, and then it will be a trooper doing the stop as the DOT doesn't have the jurisdiction. I am retired LE in OH and called to check into all this when I got a rig that would be north of 26k. Since we don't haul for pay and the truck is non comm as is the trailer(RV tagged) we are good to go for no CDL. They could stop for other reasons such as safety or speed etc, but it would be OSP not the DOT. But stay within your numbers and its never an issue.

 

Watch out for other states, though. I think it was NC I came across in an RV forum members were bitching about getting stopped and fined for running personal combos without a CDL, and judges were making the fines stick.

 

Congrats on retirement. I've still got 9 to go. Not sure I'll make it that far.

 

It would be very tough to enforce it on out of state drivers, the violator compact that most states now belong to requires each state to honor the licensing and registration of the others. So as long as you are legal in your state they have to honor it. It also means that points on your license will be added for out of state violations, most states all signed on to this by the 80s, 6 have held out. But as far as registration/licensing goes most states and I think NC is included have clauses in their state code requiring states registrations and licenses be honored as long as that state honors a NC version. Its vital for interstate travel.

 

Watch out for Nebraska though. Their Weigh In Motion stations have been known to pull random RV's in. Back in 2016 I was following a plated 5th wheel being pulled by a 2500 GM, On this stretch of I-80 all trucks, including pickups with trailers are required to be in the right lane. They tagged the truck in front of me to pull in, I was cleared. When I got past the 5th wheel that got pulled I saw no DOT numbers, so that along with the tag on the trailer meant its a private rig, so they must have spotted something to flag them or one of the WIM scales detected an over axle condition. Also while we were going through that WIM section, another driver pulling a RV trailer decided he wasn't required to be in the right lane and blew past us all. He got chased down and pulled over a few miles up the road. Apparently that area of Nebraska is serious about weight and safety enforcement.

After what happened in California a few years ago I am a bit surprised there aren't more enforcements on RV's. That Camp fire that killed several people was started by an RV with a blown tire.

Here's something that would really suck for someone. In IL they haven't been enforcing C/D rated truck plates, for the longest time you could drive an F350 Dually with a B truck plate which is rated 8,000 and under. Recently though they have been enforcing it, but if you were one who has been sliding by and go to another state with under registered plates, that cross state compact could nail you for being over registered weight. Could, the state police would have to know the plate system of IL though. Technically, they could nail the driver for being over registered weight with the truck just sitting there empty, at least with mine they could since its curb weight is over 8,000 pounds.

 

I think this may be a misconception. As far as I know they don't require a Commercial License. What they do require is the driver be licensed for the correct weight class. IE If you are over 26,000 lb total pulling a 10,000+ lb trailer you may require a Class A or over 26,000 lb total but pulling an under 10,000 trailer a Class B but not a Commercial License. The tests are often vastly different. Whether it is required should depend on your home state rules due to driver's license reciprocity.

On a related subject my state requires my vehicle be licensed for the empty weight of the tow vehicle without the trailer weight as long as it has a 14,000 GVWR or less and it's non-commercial or farm use. I carry a copy of the two relevant statutes with me when traveling (One defining a Pickup as 14,000 lb GVWR or less and the other defining the required licensing weight of pickups) just to make sure no misunderstanding exist as to the requirements of my home state.

​​​​​​I have a Class A CDL so I see no reason to carry the relevant statutes on license class for my home state. But if it hasn't changed my state only has one class of license for non-CDL that covers every legal weight class. The standard non-commercial license used to say class >80,000 lb on the back for endorsements and restrictions.

 

Before I retired this kind of thing was something we had to teach all the new guys. They wanted to enforce OH laws for equipment and the like on out of state vehicles. A quick education on the relevant codes usually fixed it. Can you imagine how crazy it could get if you had to adjust thing like bumper height, legal tint levels, and a variety of similar things everytime you went out of state

 

Or front license plates...haha. Thankfully we finally got away from that, even though a lot of my DUS’s came from no front plates.