Hey Weight Police

[HDGoose]

Originally Posted by consolenut

Yeah read the law. Any vehicle on any road by Sheriff, Local police. etc. If no scales they can make you drive to a truck stop for the purpose of weighing. Or private scales as defined. private or commercial is any vehicle

lol tell OHP he has to be certified.

https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahom...ion-47-14-111/


Weighing Vehicles - Compelling Unloading - Certificates - Bills of Sale - Proof of Ownership - Impounding - Does Not Apply to Transport of Livestock

2nd link is from state of OK site

Actually, tickets will usually be dropped if the LEO is not trained on the equipment, the equipment was not properly serviced, records are not available to prove maintenance. I have had ticket dropped in three states when I sent in the forms for discovery of information related to the ticket. They would have spent more money providing me the information, and then list in court, than the ax ticket could generate. Most agencies do not have the funding for the legally required training and maintenance.



That is why many states are moving many vehicle related tickets to civil courts were less evidence is needed, and less rights to the accused.

[HISSSSS]

This is a RV forum to answer questions about RVs, camping, etc. What does the max speed limit have to do with that? Who drives their rig over 70 MPH?

Seems like this post has gone wayyyy off tangent of the initial post about rig weight.

In case you missed an inappropriate towing situation where the weight restrictions are definitely being violated: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/car-p...ml#post4994031


btw, the adrenaline vehicle in my avatar I shift from second to third at 75 mph and then I have three more gears to go. It was designed for speed with Class X tires, 4 piston brake calipers, etc. so excess of 70 mph can be safe if there are not others on the road that do something stupid in front of you and the roads are in great condition ...

[kdauto]

Originally Posted by HISSSSS

This is a RV forum to answer questions about RVs, camping, etc. What does the max speed limit have to do with that? Who drives their rig over 70 MPH?

Seems like this post has gone wayyyy off tangent of the initial post about rig weight.

I agree 100%. Seriously, if someone is in such a rush as HAVING to exceed 70 MPH with an 8 ton vehicle in tow I no longer feel like it's a vacation nor pleasant experience.

At speeds like that, life-changing experiences can happen in a heartbeat.

[Linda Bohr]

Originally Posted by Itchytoe

No it doesn't. A cop thinking that you might be hiding something doesn't provide probable cause in any way. The cop would have to know what you're trying to hide, and know that the hidden information/item is illegal in order to have probable cause. Cops do not have the legal right to know everything about every situation. That's exactly what the 4th amendment prevents. A cop not knowing what you're doing doesn't mean he automatically knows what you're doing and that it's illegal. If he doesn't know what you're hiding, he can't possibly claim that it's illegal because he literally doesn't know what it is. As I've said many times, his ignorance is unfortunate, but not your problem.


What you're advocating for is a police state. You're trying to give them a free pass to do anything they want because maybe...

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If a policeman sees you trying to hide something, why on earth would you have to hide something when you are pulled over? If something is legal, you wouldn't have to. Cops have to be on the lookout for their safety as well as upholding the law. If someone is hiding something, it would and should raise any number of suspicions. I am not advocating for a police state, or for them to have a free pass at anyone. I'm just stating the obvious. If you don't want for a policeman to ask to search your car, don't act like a suspicious boob.

[HDGoose]

Originally Posted by HISSSSS

This is a RV forum to answer questions about RVs, camping, etc. What does the max speed limit have to do with that? Who drives their rig over 70 MPH?

You are correct. I do not see how to delete my post that are off the original subject.

[Nudge]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Apparently, you never met my mother if you think driving 90 on the Interstate is okay. To be honest, there are not many people I've driven with that I'd trust to drive 90 unless the road was empty and dead straight.

Speed traps? Sure, but that's not really what we're talking about. We're talking about the fact that some states have the speed limit set at 65 while others have theirs considerably higher.

Why the variances? Simple. Not every state has roads kept at the same level of repair. Not all states have wide open stretches of highway that go on forever. Not all states have much of their Interstate system built for higher speeds. Some are more congested, poorly maintained, or have other issues. Some states want to keep the speed limits consistent across the state and use the slower speed as the base. Some states had more people pushing for the higher limits, some had more pushing for slower/seemingly-safer limits.

What I don't see is that the speed limits (other than obvious speed traps) have anything to do with police being able to write more tickets. States have different speed limits on highways because states are different, just like they have different rules about many things.

[Itchytoe]

Originally Posted by Linda Bohr

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If a policeman sees you trying to hide something, why on earth would you have to hide something when you are pulled over? If something is legal, you wouldn't have to. Cops have to be on the lookout for their safety as well as upholding the law. If someone is hiding something, it would and should raise any number of suspicions. I am not advocating for a police state, or for them to have a free pass at anyone. I'm just stating the obvious. If you don't want for a policeman to ask to search your car, don't act like a suspicious boob.

That's exactly the police state that I'm talking about. You're trying to get people to just open up everything they own for any cop who wants to see what they're doing. Anyone who doesn't do that is "hiding something", so the cop then gets a free pass to do as he pleases because you're acting suspiciously. There is literally no situation in which "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated" if asserting that right makes it forfeit. That's what it means to not have that right.



That's literally what you're advocating for. Always give up your 4th amendment rights and let cops search anything they want, because you shouldn't be hiding anything from them. The old "You've got nothing to hide, so show them everything" argument is a forfeiture of the 4th amendment, and an advocation for a police state. That's a state in which the police supervise and control the public.


Give me one situation in which a citizen can refuse a search by a cop who wants to. By your argument, there isn't one.

[Mcsap9213]

Originally Posted by HDGoose

Actually, tickets will usually be dropped if the LEO is not trained on the equipment, the equipment was not properly serviced, records are not available to prove maintenance. I have had ticket dropped in three states when I sent in the forms for discovery of information related to the ticket. They would have spent more money providing me the information, and then list in court, than the ax ticket could generate. Most agencies do not have the funding for the legally required training and maintenance.


Traffic tickets in my state are considered criminal in nature and failing to respond is bad for your drivers license. PA does not honor discovery requests for traffic tickets. Just show up and I will have ( had) everything you could possibly want.



That is why many states are moving many vehicle related tickets to civil courts were less evidence is needed, and less rights to the accused.

This line of Law Enforcement is from the 1960's. Most agencies will not spend the money on equipment ( scales) if the officers are not properly trained as the cites would get tossed.

Yes , you can always go to court and challenge anything you want but I can tell you as a former Police Officer/ DOT Officer and Weighmaster....I was already to back up any cite I wrote.

Our portable scales were only required to be certified once a year and my weighmaster certification never expired ( as long as I was an officer.) You do not have to be a State Trooper to do any of the above. There of course is a training requirement for these. I enjoyed discussing that with various people I stopped who remarked that I was not a trooper and thought I could not enforce ______law.

No vehicle of ANY kind is exempt from the weight laws. It is actually NOT a DOT violation to be overweight. There is no such DOT law. It is STATE law that DOT officers enforce. And as a state law, it applies to any vehicle on the road. Passenger cars do not have a GVWR but they do have axle ratings which are enforceable.

I now work for a construction company in Safety and have 16 portable scales which is the most # of scales of any agency in my state except for the State Police. I have weighed everything from a pickup truck to a nuclear reactor ( on a flatbed trailer).

While I am no longer a Police/DOT / Weighmaster....I have my own side business advising/consulting with commercial trucking companies on the DOT rules etc.

[Jshopes81]

Originally Posted by Mcsap9213

This line of Law Enforcement is from the 1960's. Most agencies will not spend the money on equipment ( scales) if the officers are not properly trained as the cites would get tossed.

Yes , you can always go to court and challenge anything you want but I can tell you as a former Police Officer/ DOT Officer and Weighmaster....I was already to back up any cite I wrote.

Our portable scales were only required to be certified once a year and my weighmaster certification never expired ( as long as I was an officer.) You do not have to be a State Trooper to do any of the above. There of course is a training requirement for these. I enjoyed discussing that with various people I stopped who remarked that I was not a trooper and thought I could not enforce ______law.

No vehicle of ANY kind is exempt from the weight laws. It is actually NOT a DOT violation to be overweight. There is no such DOT law. It is STATE law that DOT officers enforce. And as a state law, it applies to any vehicle on the road. Passenger cars do not have a GVWR but they do have axle ratings which are enforceable.

I now work for a construction company in Safety and have 16 portable scales which is the most # of scales of any agency in my state except for the State Police. I have weighed everything from a pickup truck to a nuclear reactor ( on a flatbed trailer).

While I am no longer a Police/DOT / Weighmaster....I have my own side business advising/consulting with commercial trucking companies on the DOT rules etc.

My wifes fusion definately has a gvwr. So does my harley. Pretty sure every vehicle has to have a gvwr. Or were you talking about declared gvwr? Goes back to alot of people on here go bananas over that gvwr sticker and payload.

[BigBill3111]

Originally Posted by Hit_the_Rhod

I think a little more information is needed before we can make a blanket statement like that. For instance, how is the RV loaded? Where are the fresh, grey, and black tanks located? (perhaps over the rear axle?) How much water was in the fresh water tank? How full were the grey and black tanks? Or were they empty? How was the rest of the RV loaded? Were the rear storage compartments completely loaded, but the front compartments empty or only lightly loaded? Did he have a "tailgator" or some such on the back with a generator, two scooters, and fuel cans attached?


Need more info before we can state that his SRW truck cannot safely tow this rig . . .

A DRV Mobile Suites is a very heavy 5th wheel. Even if it were totally empty, the pin weight alone would put the tail end of a single rear wheel one ton truck over its specified limits. Adding ANYTHING else to the trailer only makes it weigh more. There is a VERY high percentage of RVers that don't know how to figure GVWR, Axle weights, etc. If ignorance is bliss, there is a LOT of blissful people out there towing trailers, especially 5th wheels.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by BigBill3111

A DRV Mobile Suites is a very heavy 5th wheel. Even if it were totally empty, the pin weight alone would put the tail end of a single rear wheel one ton truck over its specified limits. Adding ANYTHING else to the trailer only makes it weigh more. There is a VERY high percentage of RVers that don't know how to figure GVWR, Axle weights, etc. If ignorance is bliss, there is a LOT of blissful people out there towing trailers, especially 5th wheels.

Yep, I've made a little hobby of counting the 5ers tow vehicles that *look* overloaded by virtue of no spring resilience on the rear suspension, nose-up posture, and bulging rear tires, etc. I'm happy to say that in the last couple of months the count has been pretty low... and I acknowledge that my simple look-over while driving is not exact and I don't claim it to be... but that the appearance gives me pause.


I want everyone to get to their destinations safely and without endangering those who are more weight-compliant or completely innocent of the dangers other vehicle operators can pose.


I fully understand the desire to have ones toys and other vehicles with them as they travel but question why someone would make a deliberate decision to operate a vehicle or combination of vehicles that even raises the question of "is this overloaded?" Seems to be one of those "if you have to ask..." things.

[Itchytoe]

Looks can be deceiving. My truck squats a bit when I've got her loaded up. It does look nose high, but has more than 2300 pounds of RAWR just waiting to be used. Just because something "looks overloaded" to you doesn't mean it is.