DOT and CDL info

Frash- i did something similar but I went up with trailer rating. Point is in no uncertain terms you will need a new trailer registration and that may or may not include a different VIN to make that work. The Manufacturer sticker has to be peeled off and a new one put on replacing it reflecting VIN and GVWR. The way the Feds and State view it is as I posted earlier. If it was designed and built that you need a CDL to use it (truck or trailer) then you need that CDL regardless of what you derated it on paper. The manufacturers sticker will have to show 10,000 or less to get around it.
The big hangup I see with derating stuff is usually you end up with a crappy payload capacity because the trailer is so darn heavy from being buolt to haul its original GVWR. May want to get a lite weight before you start the paperwork...
And Big Twig you are right on.. That is what I had to do. I had a A for 2 years to drive my F550s and 10 ton trailers. Then I went and started all over and retook it with a 10 wheeler n tag to get the air restriction off my A. In PA the written test for air is separate 75 ?s from the A test but still had to redo both, and the whole rest of the test. Plus my paperwork for the trailer was screwed up so I ended up taking my A with air 2x

BT is right on too with the drug tests and screening crap. Same deal for me here. We need state inspections 2x a year on the trucks tho. That is a state thing tho.
DOT #s were not hard or expensive for me but the extra paperwork keeping up with mandatory updates is a total PITA
 
Right On guys.

Considering a new trailer either 9990lb so all employees can tow or some giant goose neck cause I'll be in cdl land anyways.

Our 12k trailer weighs 3k can hold up to 14yards (7k)... It's the logs we haul on occasion that puts us over weight anyways.

How do I random drug test myself? that has to be the most ridiculous part.
 
BIGTWIG said:
I was told I needed to get a DOT number for my truck this year. It has been a headache and expensive as well. As allmark stated, its about revenue.

As far as I know, if you're over 26,000 you need a Class B, if you're towing more than 10,000 then you need a Class A. Lots of variables in state CDL laws, though.

Then you'll need

DOT Numbers
-Pre-Employment drug test (even for owner operators who have been driving said vehicle legally for years)
-Random drug test selection (even for owner/operators)
-Daily Inspection sheets for all vehicles being driven
-Log Books if leaving 50 air miles from home base
-Time cards if not leaving 50 mile radius of base
(Make sure to keep a time card if you're an owner operator)
-Can not work(drive) more than 11hrs in one day
-Annual inspection of every truck and trailer

Don't forget the third party daily spam calls about CDL Safety programs and bogus. Don't give these people the time of day.

There's more I am missing, I will try to add later. Seems as though they have clamped down on 450-550 and larger tree service trucks recently. In my opinion the guys running around in a 1 ton with a big gooseneck are in the crosshairs of the DOT.
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As far as I understand, you only need DOT numbers if you are traveling across state lines. Right?
 
Gorman said:
As far as I understand, you only need DOT numbers if you are traveling across state lines. Right?
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Yes. We went through this recently. Although we don't leave the state for work, we frequently go to pick up material (plants and trees) out of state so we had to get dot numbers........
 
I was under that impression for years, Gorman. Then the scale house started giving me a hard time, I am almost sure that if you're driving a commercial vehicle over 26,000 then you need to have a DOT number. I am pretty sure I have paperwork from the DOT claiming this as well.


Yes, frashdog it is ridiculous and this is where it starts to cost money. I signed up for a local company to do a pre employment drug screen for $50 and the same company does a pool of owner operated random drug selections for business owners. I think it's about $150 annually and then the tests are $50 each.

The DOT number itself is the cheap part. You can do the DOT number yourself for free. You could pay someone $40 to do it in about 15 minutes as well.
 
That's weird because on the web site it state only trucks going interstate require dot numbers. What about this costs real money? The drug tests are around $200 and then the stickers. What else?
 
Gorman said:
That's weird because on the web site it state only trucks going interstate require dot numbers. What about this costs real money? The drug tests are around $200 and then the stickers. What else?
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From what I've been told/emailed/gone through myself...

Mandatory drug awareness training
Annual DOT inspections for each vehicle
Payroll for employees going through scale houses
Payroll for daily checklists
Payroll during DOT inspections at your facility
State fuel taxes (if you do work out of state.)
First aid kit,flares,triangles, etc getting you're trucks set up

Might be forgetting some and might not apply to everyone but this seems to be what I am stuck with.


Maybe this stuff isn't a big deal or cost to some of the bigger companies with full time office staff, but it's been a headache for me.
 
Gorman said:
Im getting kinda worried. I might have to give up crack cocaine with this whole drug testing thingy.
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Don't worry, the crack is outta the system in like hours. Jus gotta be puttin da bong down mon. Just silly, right?...

Stoners dream," dude, I am in charge of the 'random' drug screening program my job!"

In NY dot#'s were required years ago...Dot #'s were the gate way. iirc they're required for trucks and/or trailers over 10k alone, on their own. That's what pisses me off, they know who is/was there, so when they enacted these new regs, why could they not notify us, with due time as well.
They allowed notification to those that wanted to charge me for free stuff. Same happened when I filed LLC and fei#.
 
BT is right on again. I'm pretty sure if your truck is over 10#k and used for business you need a USDOT. What changes is the series of numbers you are issued. If you register Interstate i believe the series starts in a 0. If you are Intrastate ( in state) it starts with a 1. This is all crap they review when you are required to update your crap every 6 months.

The random drug thing I have set up thru my local hospital. They call it a consortium. You sign up, pay the fee, and they put you in a pool with other comapnies. Based on the total # of people in the pool, a certain percentage of them need to be tested at random. Each individual is assigned a number. Their computer then picks at random thru the year x numbers. You get a phone call and have like 24 hrs to show up for the test. The bad part is you have to pay about $75 for the test.

Going back to the DOT #'stuff- I do know it is weight based- I can remeber the Trooper leading the class telling us that and giving and example of how a Ford Ranger depending on how it was used for business would need a USDOT.....
 
States that require US dot #
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Nebraska
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming




in PA anything over 10,000 lbs or thereabouts needs a dot
 
For me, not going CDL is a calculated risk. All my trucks are under 26,000 and all my trailers and chippers are under 10,000. This allows me to operate without the headache of CDL drivers and DOT. When my trucks are fully loaded or a trailer full of logs, the axles are sufficiently strong enough to handle the load but on paper I am over weight. This is because they are de rated. Why do I do it this way? Because we have a relatively low DOT presence within the town I work in. We travel only 15 or so miles in any direction. Most of our travel time we are within compliance. The few times we are over I do risk getting over weight tickets. I've never had an over weight ticket and to me the cost of getting a ticket for being over weight is much better than all the headaches and costs that come along with DOT operations.

Example, this truck is safe to operate, but illegal on paper.



The key to not getting pulled over in Omaha is to have good looking newer trucks.



If I have to move my Gehl Loader around, it gets pulled by the pickup as the trailer is rated 14k.



Not saying this method of operating is for everyone, but for me it makes sense.
 
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About 10 years ago I went through a Federal DOT audit. Yep, little ol me. You guys might want to investigate that because they're coming after everyone.

I talked to a Highway Patrol the other day.
A driver over 10,000 lbs with no medical card, no vehicle inspection sticker and no DOT number would be looking at a little over $1000 in fines.

TCIA accreditation program will spell out everything you need to do to be DOT compliant. Big companies really go through the wringer.
 
AmericanArborist said:
For me, not going CDL is a calculated risk. All my trucks are under 26,000 and all my trailers and chippers are under 10,000. This allows me to operate without the headache of CDL drivers and DOT. When my trucks are fully loaded or a trailer full of logs, the axles are sufficiently strong enough to handle the load but on paper I am over weight. This is because they are de rated. Why do I do it this way? Because we have a relatively low DOT presence within the town I work in. We travel only 15 or so miles in any direction. Most of our travel time we are within compliance. The few times we are over I do risk getting over weight tickets. I've never had an over weight ticket and to me the cost of getting a ticket for being over weight is much better than all the headaches and costs that come along with DOT operations.

Example, this truck is safe to operate, but illegal on paper.



The key to not getting pulled over in Omaha is to have good looking newer trucks.



If I have to move my Gehl Loader around, it gets pulled by the pickup as the trailer is rated 14k.



Not saying this method of operating is for everyone, but for me it makes sense.
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Here, you'd most likely get ticketed for an unsecured load on your dump trailer.
 
Load securement is huge here right now. I heard a story of a guy that didn't fully clean out chips from his dump trailer. Some chips were left in the corner and the DOT wrote him up for unsecured load. I've also heard stories of cargo trailers, even though they are enclosed, if something wasn't strapped down properly you'd get a ticket for unsecured load. And now just last week I heard of unsecured load inside the cab of the truck, stuff sitting up on the dash and what not. You have to understand something, it's all about the money right now, the governments are broke and need the coin.
 
jim454 said:
Load securement is huge here right now. I heard a story of a guy that didn't fully clean out chips from his dump trailer. Some chips were left in the corner and the DOT wrote him up for unsecured load. I've also heard stories of cargo trailers, even though they are enclosed, if something wasn't strapped down properly you'd get a ticket for unsecured load. And now just last week I heard of unsecured load inside the cab of the truck, stuff sitting up on the dash and what not. You have to understand something, it's all about the money right now, the governments are broke and need the coin.
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The nail has been hit on the head. The coffers are empty, and a mandate had been issued to fill them by any means.
 
jim454 said:
Load securement is huge here right now. I heard a story of a guy that didn't fully clean out chips from his dump trailer. Some chips were left in the corner and the DOT wrote him up for unsecured load. I've also heard stories of cargo trailers, even though they are enclosed, if something wasn't strapped down properly you'd get a ticket for unsecured load. And now just last week I heard of unsecured load inside the cab of the truck, stuff sitting up on the dash and what not. You have to understand something, it's all about the money right now, the governments are broke and need the coin.
Click to expand...

that actually brings up a good point. the back of the chip truck isn't enclosed and can be cited as an unsecured load.
 
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