Race Haulers and the Iowa DOT

[vande07]

I had a friend that drove for a Cup team.He said every hauler that leaves a shop is illegal.They carry lots of hats and jackets to bribe with.

I find that very hard to believe (the illegal part). The Cup teams are way too visible and have too much to lose.

Even the WoO Sprint teams make sure anyone driving the truck has a CDL and they have all their #'s and permits in the cab (and they race for peanuts compared to NASCAR).

[dirt33]

dirt33,

Yes I am still racing. I sold my black hauler (truck and trailer) and bought a newer white toter (it's actually a little bigger thn the black one) and a reliable welding trailer. Since I do 99.9% of the work on my car myself I wanted a trailer that I could easily and quickly loan/unload by myself.

Cool, glad to know you are still racing Curt. I can imagine that the Reliable trailer makes for an easier time for you, and those are some real nice trailers. You have given a lot of good info and advice in this thread. It is appreciated by all to have someone that has your work background/knowledge chime in. Good luck racing this season.

[cjsracing]

Spi-nex,

Just to expand on something I said earlier. The RV exclusion that I mentioned is part of the Federal DOT regulation manual (The IDOT has this on their website). Each State has their own statutes regarding what they allow to be registered as an RV (There is no Federal statute on what determines an RV). So as long as your vehicle satisfies what the state allows it will also apply to the Federal RV exclusion.

[tsand]

Spi-nex,

Just to expand on something I said earlier. The RV exclusion that I mentioned is part of the Federal DOT regulation manual (The IDOT has this on their website). Each State has their own statutes regarding what they allow to be registered as an RV (There is no Federal statute on what determines an RV). So as long as your vehicle satisfies what the state allows it will also apply to the Federal RV exclusion.

Had an uncle that was a DOT man he told us that if your on an interstate hwy they couldn't override your home state regulations as far as how your vehicle is registered.It's only on secondary roads that's the laws become iffy on certain things

[cjsracing]

tsand that is interesting. The reason that I think it is interesting is because most of the time when I see a DOT guy pulling someone over it is on a non-interstate road.

[tsand]

tsand that is interesting. The reason that I think it is interesting is because most of the time when I see a DOT guy pulling someone over it is on a non-interstate road.

Yea i think it has something to do with interstate commerce laws. That you can move through
A state unmolested. But once you leave a federal hwy your fair game.

[J20in1st]

Hearing that at least two haulers were stopped and ticketed for not being DOT compliant in Iowa today. I wonder if the crackdown is Iowa only, a particular county in Iowa or if all the states are going to put the pinch on racers using big rig conversions.
If what I'm hearing is true, that if you receive a 1099 as a part of your racing operation, then your rig is a commercial vehicle and you'd better be in compliance.
If they want to get serious on the 1099 thing, an open trailer with a pickup towing it would be considered a commercial vehicle and have to comply with the rules for a vehicle of that weight.

Nope got a bunch of Slinger (WI) drivers last year.

[J20in1st]

Federal DOT regulations trump state and local regs as long as you are within 5 miles of a federal highway.

It's free to get a DOT number... you just call a number and enter information when prompted.

There is no way for a police officer to know with absolute certainty what the contents of your RV are without unloading it. So if you are pulled over and he wants to know just tell him you have "RV's" (ie. Recreational Vehicles) in your trailer (after all, that IS what a race car is) and leave it at that. And if he wants more then he has to get a warrant signed by the district judge to perform a search.

Plus just tell them you race for trophies.... can't tax those.

Like the others said, make sure you have your "Registered RV, Not For Hire, & DOT Number" stickers on the outside and make sure visually everything is up to snuff.

A not for hire sign on your truck means nothing.

[KRLLC]

"Like the others said, make sure you have your 'Registered RV, Not For Hire, & DOT Number' stickers on the outside and make sure visually everything is up to snuff." I am not sure that I agree with this approach. If you take the position and display that you are operating a private recreational vehicle, then you do not need a USDOT Number. If you register and display a USDOT Number, then you are saying that you are a commercial vehicle in the business of hauling cargo or passengers. From the FMCSA website: Companies that operate commercial vehicles transporting passengers or hauling cargo in interstate commerce must be registered.

[Spi-nex]

If you register and display a USDOT Number, then you are saying that you are a commercial vehicle in the business of hauling cargo or passengers. From the FMCSA website: Companies that operate commercial vehicles transporting passengers or hauling cargo in interstate commerce must be registered.

Not true. "Technically" anything over 10,000lbs is supposed to have a DOT number. The number doesn't implicate that you are commercial. If you are commercial then you are required to have it. It's one of those things where it's better to have it & not need it, then need it and not have it.

Here is a really good article in layman terms for CDL/DOT/Weight/etc:
http://www.motorists.org/other/dot-numbering

[GRT24]

We were pulled over in Ga in a F-350 pulling a mini trac hoe on a bumper pull trailer. SHE wrote 3 ticket and 4 warnings. When I asked why she pulled us over she said we didn't have a visual DOT number and were considered commercial. I tried to tell a little white lie by saying it was a friends and I was just using it at my farm to clean up around my pond. Never the less we were going to dig footers for a house and she could care less if I was telling the truth because she was already writing tickets. We got a tickets for no DOT number, tread wear on steer tires, and for unsecure load because we didn't have a chain across the bucket. So I guess my question is what's the difference in pulling a mini trachoe on a trailer vs. a race car on an open trailer?

[TALON75]

http://www.dragracingscene.com/news/...ing-follow-up/

Some new info, this would be a good thing for the Fed to do.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

We were pulled over in Ga in a F-350 pulling a mini trac hoe on a bumper pull trailer. SHE wrote 3 ticket and 4 warnings. When I asked why she pulled us over she said we didn't have a visual DOT number and were considered commercial. I tried to tell a little white lie by saying it was a friends and I was just using it at my farm to clean up around my pond. Never the less we were going to dig footers for a house and she could care less if I was telling the truth because she was already writing tickets. We got a tickets for no DOT number, tread wear on steer tires, and for unsecure load because we didn't have a chain across the bucket. So I guess my question is what's the difference in pulling a mini trachoe on a trailer vs. a race car on an open trailer?

You are treated as a commercial vehicle and must have the proper tie downs and steer tires with proper tread depth etc. When I was in between jobs, I worked for some idiot in a little podunk town by me. He had F550's and 450's etc with trailers for minis and bobcats, took awhile, but as they tightened the laws up, they finally nailed him. Anything over 10k, and he was way over 10k plus combination, so yeah, he had all kinds of fines and homework to do.

[cjsracing]

Good find Mr. Talon. My preliminary research says that that bill has passed the Iowa House by a vote of 93-0, but it does not appear to have been voted on in the Iowa Senate. I will make a call to the Iowa Legislature tomorrow to see where it sits.

Reading the bill, it is pretty much common sense and needs to be passed.

If I need to I can put a call in to a guy in the Iowa Senate that I played college football with and get some insight on it.

[TALON75]

Sounds good, I believe Jason Hughes and Cory Dripps had something to do with helping this along, at least they knew about it last year and this is the first info I have found on it. I'm sure everyone would rather just pay the "fine" upfront and not have to worry so much about it.

[cjsracing]

Talon this is a huge find by you and I can't thank you enough!!! So this bill has passed the Iowa House, Iowa Senate and the Governor has signed it on May 30, 2014 so it should be current Iowa law. Talk about sneaking it through.

This is a link for the summary of the bill http://www.iowahouserepublicans.com/...l-Vehicles.pdf because reading the actual passed law is kind of confusing.

[Southern Ohio Racer]

Years ago when the team I was with had a Western Star toter home and a two car stacker trailer, King of the Road conversion and trailer. The Western Star national sales manager told us at that time a truck could not be built that would be legal in all the 48 continental states.
He said that the big coast to coast trucking company's paid fines all the time to some states, just as a cost of doing business.
Things may have changed since then, but it sounds like the variations still exist.