British Columbia House Trailer Licence Endorsement

[Diesel Don]

This is required in BC if your trailer is over 10000 pounds and this is your loaded weight so if your unit is 9000 pounds empty and you add 1100 pounds of cargo to your RV and end up towing 10100 pounds, you need this endorsement which requires a written test and a road test towing your unit.
I had done the written test 3 months ago and it deals with all the weight issues as well as traffic rules. Yesterday I did the road test and I passed (sigh of relief) and even though I have pulled regular trailers for 35 years and fifth wheels for 22 years I was worried. I really wanted to take a course on it but I did not have the time so I hit the books and practiced on my own. I had a learner's permit from passing the written test and this states that I needed a person with a truck driver (or this endorsement)
licence with me. I completely emptied out my Montana fifth wheel, even took out the propane tanks and headed down to the scales. I was still 10300 pounds even though the Montana brochure showed my empty weight to be 9800 lb.
Anyway, the hardest part of the exam for me was all the stuff you must remember for the pretrip inspection.In real life you should use a check list. For the test you are not allowed this check list and their are 48 items you must remember. At 57, my memory is not what it used to be and I forgot 5 items. You are allowed up to 10 items, any more and you fail. The road test was about 40 minutes and went quite well for me. There are 295 points you can lose, you are allowed up to 40 and I lost 15 points.
The back up test is quite basic and only requires you to back up straight for a short distance. I thought my tester was a great guy, gave me some good tips and he said this test came up from the USA so some States must require it also. I can now pull any weight of RV that my truck can handle and learned a few things so for me this has been a positive experience.

[Diesel Don]

This is required in BC if your trailer is over 10000 pounds and this is your loaded weight so if your unit is 9000 pounds empty and you add 1100 pounds of cargo to your RV and end up towing 10100 pounds, you need this endorsement which requires a written test and a road test towing your unit.
I had done the written test 3 months ago and it deals with all the weight issues as well as traffic rules. Yesterday I did the road test and I passed (sigh of relief) and even though I have pulled regular trailers for 35 years and fifth wheels for 22 years I was worried. I really wanted to take a course on it but I did not have the time so I hit the books and practiced on my own. I had a learner's permit from passing the written test and this states that I needed a person with a truck driver (or this endorsement)
licence with me. I completely emptied out my Montana fifth wheel, even took out the propane tanks and headed down to the scales. I was still 10300 pounds even though the Montana brochure showed my empty weight to be 9800 lb.
Anyway, the hardest part of the exam for me was all the stuff you must remember for the pretrip inspection.In real life you should use a check list. For the test you are not allowed this check list and their are 48 items you must remember. At 57, my memory is not what it used to be and I forgot 5 items. You are allowed up to 10 items, any more and you fail. The road test was about 40 minutes and went quite well for me. There are 295 points you can lose, you are allowed up to 40 and I lost 15 points.
The back up test is quite basic and only requires you to back up straight for a short distance. I thought my tester was a great guy, gave me some good tips and he said this test came up from the USA so some States must require it also. I can now pull any weight of RV that my truck can handle and learned a few things so for me this has been a positive experience.

[Blue74]

It sounds more like a test to get a CDL in the states. Wish the states would do something like that but it will never happen (AARP).

Paul

[The Big Kid]

in the late 80s, BC changed a bunch of the trailer regulations, and restriction 20 was borne from the guys that still wanted big utility trailers. when the RV industry got bigger, they went to restriction 51 - the house trailer endorsement.

RV dealers don't tell you about it when they sell you a large trailer - they know about it - but just don't tell you for fear of losing the sale.

I think its a good idea. I helped a buddies dad get ready for his - he had been RVing for many years, but this was his first "big" trailer. they spend 6 months south, and only 3 months at thier Vancouver Island home.

His biggest comments were that he liked how the checklist comment allowed him to have a good mental preparation to make sure all was good before he set out on the road.

Its significantly easier than BCs commercial test - trust me. Unless you happen to be close to the guys that will give you the "nudge nudge wink wink" for the right $$. (not that there have been more than 2 or 3 guys busted for selling licences/experience letters out there recently)