20 replies to this topic

[Sphinx]

Good lord. Can this get any more complicated? According to the excerpt below fees are based upon unladen weight and not the tagged GVWR. I interpret the text below to exempt most pickups and rvs. Maybe wishful thinking on my part?

 

Vehicles NOT Affected

• Light-weight trucks and vans, if the declared GVW or CGW is 10,000 lbs. or less.
• Pickups with an unladen weight of 8,000 lbs. (even if the operating weight is over 10,000 lbs.)
• Taxis/rental limousines/charter-party carriers operating limousines if the declared GVW is 10,000 lbs. or less.
• Park trailers/trailer coaches.

Weight fees for the above vehicles (except trailers) are based on the unladen weight.

 

Yea, that's why I figured someone here must have figured this out.  The CGW in my case is 20,000.  So, I don't think I have to get another license, but I think that these exorbitant fees apply to me.  But then again, I'm thinking "that can't be right."

 

UPDATE:  I think I figured it out.  One website had it clearly written:

 

"Trucks operated at a gross or a combined gross weight of 10,001 lbs. or more, will be assessed a CVRA fee in addition to other registration fees (including but not limited to a CVRA Motor Vehicle fee and a CVRA CHP fee). Trucks operated at a gross weight of 10,000 lbs. or less will continue to be assessed a weight fee based on the truck's unladen (empty) weight."

 

So, in my case, I do believe that anyone pulling a racecar trailer in California, unless you are using a tiny truck will likely be over 10K CWR and fees are due.  Nothing more is required other than the weight declaration, paying the fee, and getting the corresponding stickers that go on the side of the truck.

 

Further, the "unladen" part corresponds to trucks with a GWR of < 10,001 lbs. - they are treated like cars.  So, my F-250 has a rating of 10,000 on the nose.  So, it gets treated as a "car" because it's unladen weight is supposedly 67XX lbs.  Once I start towing though, you look at the Combined Weight Rating.  If I had a F350 with a GVWR of over 10K, I'd already be in the higher applicable weight category (before we even consider a trailer).  Once you declare, you get these nifty 3x3" stickers that go on the side of the truck.  From reading on the web, it looks like the vast majority of "private" folks just keep them in their glove box.

 

And by the way, this has nothing to do with "commercial" in the lay sense.  All trucks in California are classified as commercial unless they meet some rare exceptions.  And that's different than the way feds use the term for DOT purposes.  For DOT, the onerous rules kick in once you hit a 26,001 lbs.