Race Haulers and the Iowa DOT

[Car Biz]

I have been in this situation before. We were pulled over in IA I can't remember if we were coming from Owatonna or going to there. We had the registered RV sticker we were legal by length and everything. Cop said as soon as you cross state lines in the pursuit of making money you become a commercial vehicle. He wanted us to unload the cars to see the sponsor stickers. Kris (Patterson) told him no way he was going to do that. Him and the two cops talked alittle bit and they let us go. Only time we were ever pulled over and we went everywhere.

[Kenworth112]

Overall legal length is 70 foot from bumper to bumper. Rv/toter only good up to 26000 pound. Anything over goes into a commercial vehicle class. Very lucky the unit was not impounded. I have talked to many people these guys are running theses big unit a going to get burnt one day. They ever have a accident they will loose everything hey own.

[dirt33]

cjs,

Are you racing anymore? I am not quite as in tune with the Iowa racing scene as I used to be. But, I see that you mentioned that you got rid of your hauler? I always pulled for you to do well, you seem like someone who raced "for all the right reasons."

[b1eagle]

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.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Fill your rigs with Mexicans and assorted illegals and the DOT will back off!!! lol

[RTW]

For those interested. Here are weight and length limits for the state of Iowa. To the best of my knowledge Iowa does not have a restriction on the distance from the King Pin of a trailer to the back tandem axles.

WIDTH: 102 in
HEIGHT: 13 ft 6 in (14 ft auto transporter)
LENGTH:
Straight Trucks 41 ft
Truck-trailer 65 ft
Tractor-semitrailer combo No limit (see trailer max)
Tractor-twintrailer combo No limit (see trailer max)
Semitrailer 53 ft
57 ft lowboy trailers allowed exclusively
for the transportation of construction
equipment (empty or loaded) when used in
a tractor-semitrailer combination
Trailers of twin-trailer combo 28 ft 6 in
Auto/boat-transporter combo 65 ft (plus 3 ft front and 4 ft rear overhang)
Stinger steered 75 ft (plus 3 ft front and 4 ft rear overhang)
Saddlemounts 97 ft
Drawbar length 15 ft (except if towing vehicle is a motor
truck and the towed vehicle is a single
trailer with a single point-of-articulation at
the hitch connection, the drawbar cannot
exceed 21 ft and must be equipped with at
least one yellow reflector and a sign on the
rear of the towed unit indicating that the
vehicle is being towed)
WEIGHT:
Single axle 20,000 lb
Tandem axle 34,000 lb
Tridem Axle 42,000 lb with minimum 8 ft 1 in. spacing
(determined by axle spacing)
Steering axle Restricted to tire load rating, up to 20,000 lb
Load per inch width of tire 575 lb/in., except on steering axle which is
600 lb/in. (both based on tire rating)
Gross wheel weight Limited by manufacturer’s sidewall rating
(single & dual)
Gross vehicle weight 80,000 lb
Tolerances N/S

[stlracing]

Last summer I rode up with a racer to Farley in a pickup and enclosed trailer and DOT pulled us over and did the whole bit of asking if we made money, got a 1099 for racing, had sponsors on the car and so on.. We answered no to everything and he never asked to open the trailer. He did not write us any tickets.

[strong08]

What does it cost to get a USDOT number and would you still need a fuel permit and pay all the fuel taxes.

[cjsracing]

Kenworth 122,

Per the IDOT information I printed directly from their website there is an exclusion to the 26,000 lbs. rule for vehicles registered as an RV (and satisfying the RV requirements).

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.

Another quick item, a poster said the DOT asked to see the car to see if it had sponsors on it. Just because you have sponsors on it doesn't mean they paid you (I know they most likely did), but the DOT isn't privy to your financial information so I would just tell them "they are friend's business' that sometimes help me work on the car in the garage and the car would look pretty boring and plain without anything on it". I can put a giant Nike sticker all over everyone of my vehicles and that doesn't make them commercial vehicles just because I have someone's logo on it.

[Spi-nex]

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.

[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.