How do you move an overlength race trailer in California ?

I saw this on YB and I had a slight chuckle. Government transportation regulation at it's finest.....

Short version:
Trailer too long.
Authorities say it cannot go anywhere, except put on another trailer.
Must be crane lifted to get onto the even longer trailer.


Link: Go to post # 32:
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=426901&page=3

more of cali's finest...... that place really needs to fall in the ocean......

Looks like the CHP will be waiting outside the Fairplex to impound the oversize trailers Sunday and Monday.

Just saw this from Graham Light:


-- Original Message -----
From: Graham Light <glight@nhra.com>
Sent: Thu Oct 27 19:23:08 2011
Subject: California 56' trailer law

As most of you are aware, California Highway Patrol (CHP) has indicated they will actively be enforcing the maximum 53’ trailer law. The problem first surfaced when Bob Tasca’s transporter was cited in route from Sonoma to Seattle. At that time it was believed that an over-length permit could be obtained through Caltrans (California Department of Transportation). On September 28, Bob informed us of the following – “Our permit was rejected in writing and I was told that under no circumstance will they allow a 56 foot trailer into CA. They also made it clear to me that there is no permit available. The head of the DOT was very nice to me but made it clear that the Motorsports law would have to be amended. Since the NASCAR community uses 53 foot trailers they are unaffected. He told me that a trailer caught will be impounded at the scales and have to be loaded on a low boy trailer and truck out of the state.”

Since that time, V Gaines has been working with the National Truckers Association in a lobbying effort to seek a Federal exemption for motorsports. V has made some positive headway, however obtaining a Federal exemption can be a lengthy process, one that certainly will NOT be obtained prior to Pomona (or for that matter, probably not the 2012 Winternationals). Also, there are NO guarantees that obtaining an exemption is even possible.

NHRA has been in communication with the head of the Commercial Division for the CHP and Caltrans, plus has recruited assistance from Joe Sheehy Legislative Director for Congresswoman Grace Napoliano and the Southern California Auto Club (AAA). Congresswoman Napolitano is extremely supportive and has discussed with the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of the CHP. The Auto Club’s Tom McKernan, their transportation staff and their Sacramento lobbyist have been very helpful in communication with California legislators, the CHP and Caltrans. We have also solicited assistance from Infineon Raceway and Auto Club Speedway at Fontana in contacting the CHP, Caltrans and State Legislators expressing the importance of the issue as well as how these races benefit the local and state economy. Additionally, the Fairplex at Pomona has also been actively pursuing a resolution to this matter.

In a conference call Tuesday with the head of the CHP Commercial Division, three of his officers and myself, I was alarmed to learn how knowledgeable they are about our activities:

1. They are aware that the NHRA teams are currently in Las Vegas this weekend.

2. They are aware these teams will be travelling to Pomona for the event two weeks later.

3. They identified certain teams that use legal 53’ trailers, and also named others that have 56’ trailers.

4. They are aware that most teams are based in Indianapolis.

5. On Monday, they were on a conference call with the Indiana State Police regarding enforcement of over-length trailers in Indiana. ,



Our efforts to this point have been an attempt to arrive at a short term solution for the Auto Club NHRA Finals. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s efforts, a resolution to the matter has not yet been reached.

• Caltrans is the agency that creates and issues permits. They have made it very clear that permits do NOT exist for this purpose and, at this point, are unwilling to consider creating a permit.

• The CHP’s position is that it is their responsibility to “enforce the law” and the teams responsibility to “comply with the law”. Their opinion is that the law was revised in the late 90’s to accommodate motorsport transporters and there is little willingness on their part to further amend a long standing law (the same law that exists in most other states). They also expressed they are “not supportive of exempting longer trailers”. We do not have a sense as to how aggressively they plan on enforcing this law.

While there is no immediate resolution, the CHP suggested transporting race cars and support equipment in rented legal length trailers - then contract with a transport service to haul the 56’ trailer on a lowboy (permits do exist for this purpose). Another suggestion was to investigate the possibility of shipping the trailers and contents by rail from Las Vegas to Pomona area.

Anything your team could do to use your influence and/or connections to assist in this matter could be beneficial.

Thanks,

Graham

I would love it if NHRA found another venue for the Winternationals and World Finals and Sonoma.

That being said I wonder why the Nascar guys don't have this problem? Do the Nascar guys run the standard 53' trailers? Also, how much can 3 ft really matter? I would just run a 53 footer to avoid all of that crap vs a 56 footer.

In all that mumbo jumbo up top it said the Nascar trucks are 53' long so they don't have any problems. I hate government but if that is the law there I am not sure why certain people feel they should be exempt.

I was at the Fairplex today, and it is all true. Had a nice conversation with a former NHRA announcer (his son is an aquaitance of mine and I won't use his name without permission) and he confirmed everything in the article. California Highway Patrol was in the pits measuring every pro trailer in the pits. Word at the track is the trailers may need to be hauled out of the state by rail. How efficient.......

Nevs wrote:I was at the Fairplex today, and it is all true. Had a nice conversation with a former NHRA announcer (his son is an aquaitance of mine and I won't use his name without permission) and he confirmed everything in the article. California Highway Patrol was in the pits measuring every pro trailer in the pits. Word at the track is the trailers may need to be hauled out of the state by rail. How efficient.......

Do you have any idea how many---in other words not all of them are over the limit right? Just some?

Just more and more Dumbass Big Goverment....... If Cali was smart..... They would let them drive them in and chage them for an exemtion permit...... @ $1500 per Foot per Week that the trailer is in the State..... They need the money, not the expense of enforcing stupid laws and giving the money to the towing companies.....

sawzall will fix the problem .

It's kinda silly on the part of the owners too. They should know the law on the length. It sounds like other states are probably fixin to get in on the action too. 53' should be sufficent ,hell with 3 or 4 rigs like most of the big teams have they should have plenty of space to haul extra parts.But ,for the ones who didn't know the law and spent a million on a trailer that they can't use, that's gonna leave a dent in the check book

You need to get in the Custom Trailer "Modification" Business......

I hate to ask a stupid question, but the guy with the low boy, where did his permit come from? Is this one of those state laws that says "Do as I say, not as I do"!

I agree that it is a dumb law BUT,When I got my CDL license here in ohio,I was told that If I was going to be driving out of state,that I need to study that states Laws and regulations. I blame most of this on the teams not researching Cali's trailer length laws.

I'm guessing that they aren't registered as commercial vehicles. Saves a ton of money on registration, IFT, authority numbers and insurance.

The state of Texas issues us over length permits only because they did it out of spite to begin with. The first permits were sold to us, and before we even left the building, we were told that they were not valid because they were commercial permits bought for RVs. They even told us that they were non-refundable after they sold them to us. Didn't take the state long to realize that they had screwed up, and now will sell them to us without an issue due to the precedent the created trying to be asses.

Doug Rahn wrote:I hate to ask a stupid question, but the guy with the low boy, where did his permit come from? Is this one of those state laws that says "Do as I say, not as I do"!

There are several issues here, the biggest one is the commercial(for hire)vs. motorhome(not for hire). States cannot stop interstate commerce, but they can restrict interstate joy rides. When I go to Sturgis, I pull a 53' "camper" behind a Peterbilt with "not for hire" farm plates. I am legal, and don't need any permits or a log book even though I'm driving a semi. All I need is a proper CDL. I have no idea why some of these teams think they need a 56' trailer, but the easiest way to be legal is get a 53' trailer, and stay under 75' overall length and then the law man won't have an issue with you.

land of Fruits and Nuts

schmitty wrote:

Doug Rahn wrote:I hate to ask a stupid question, but the guy with the low boy, where did his permit come from? Is this one of those state laws that says "Do as I say, not as I do"!

There are several issues here, the biggest one is the commercial(for hire)vs. motorhome(not for hire). States cannot stop interstate commerce, but they can restrict interstate joy rides. When I go to Sturgis, I pull a 53' "camper" behind a Peterbilt with "not for hire" farm plates. I am legal, and don't need any permits or a log book even though I'm driving a semi. All I need is a proper CDL. I have no idea why some of these teams think they need a 56' trailer, but the easiest way to be legal is get a 53' trailer, and stay under 75' overall length and then the law man won't have an issue with you.

You are not legal according to federal law. What commodity are you carrying? What piece of "vehicle of husbandry" are you hauling? That is what constitutes farm tags in the first place. You may get away with it but do not pull through OK, KS, or TX. It will not work here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs9hp4ubU1k

NC DOT officers will take a wild hair every once and a while and start pulling over duallys pulling enclosed racecar trailers, nothing big or oversize. I was able to attend a meeting with a SC DOT officer concerning this. He pretty much said we had three options to be legal.

1. Make sure you fall under the hobby exemption, which most of us do.

2. Get your Federal ID numbers and all the things required just like a big truck does to be legal.

3. If you're stopped play dumb, say yes sir, no sir and act like you don't have a clue. You'll probably get a ticket that will be recinded when you comply with the infractions.

He suggested in any situation to have your stuff right. Have your fuel in approved containers, have safety equipment like fire ex., reflector triangles, make sure all your lights and brakes work properly.

Around here "Not for Hire" decals are a waste of money. His exact words were "Wal-Mart trucks are not for hire either." As for motorhomes and RV's, he said that when you hooked up the trailer to go to the race you are no longer an RV, you are considered Interstate Commerce, subject to all laws same as big trucks. The sign at the scalehouse says "All Trucks" Not just big trucks.

My buddy got $800 in tickets pulling a 24' enclosed behind a dually after being stopped on I-77 north of Charlotte, NC by a DMV officer!
This has become a big issue around here.

It's all about revenue. Our governments are out of hand.

its been an issue here in ontario this past summer

whatbumper wrote:

schmitty wrote:

Doug Rahn wrote:I hate to ask a stupid question, but the guy with the low boy, where did his permit come from? Is this one of those state laws that says "Do as I say, not as I do"!

There are several issues here, the biggest one is the commercial(for hire)vs. motorhome(not for hire). States cannot stop interstate commerce, but they can restrict interstate joy rides. When I go to Sturgis, I pull a 53' "camper" behind a Peterbilt with "not for hire" farm plates. I am legal, and don't need any permits or a log book even though I'm driving a semi. All I need is a proper CDL. I have no idea why some of these teams think they need a 56' trailer, but the easiest way to be legal is get a 53' trailer, and stay under 75' overall length and then the law man won't have an issue with you.

You are not legal according to federal law. What commodity are you carrying? What piece of "vehicle of husbandry" are you hauling? That is what constitutes farm tags in the first place. You may get away with it but do not pull through OK, KS, or TX. It will not work here.

I can travel like that in any state in the union, because the trailer is registered as a "camper", and the power unit is registered "not for hire". This is exactly how the NASCAR guys do what they do. I do not have to get permits or an IFTA sticker either. Not for hire "Farm" plates are not able to be used for "commercial" purposes. Even though the WalMart trucks are not legal for hire they are hauling commodities for sale, and are then given "commercial" status. The whole trick is getting a 53' van trailer registered as "camper".

schmitty wrote: The whole trick is getting a 53' van trailer registered as "camper".

I'm pretty sure they all have a potty and a microwave. Thats all it takes to register it is an RV

As a minimum, it must have a window that opens on both sides, a side access door, and then there is a list of several other items of which three must be met. A sink, or shower, a potty, beds, fridge, or other items that make a camper a camper.

schmitty wrote:As a minimum, it must have a window that opens on both sides, a side access door, and then there is a list of several other items of which three must be met. A sink, or shower, a potty, beds, fridge, or other items that make a camper a camper.

I guess our laws are different than yours.