total length

[j&l]

what is the total length yo can run with say a 3500 and a wedge thanks

[ccoop769]

65feet most states

[ccoop769]

Probably should of got into more detail.. You can take your bed off and then your considered a tractor good to 75 feet?? Dont know how entirely true that is but I think its pretty accurate. really only way to stay under 65 feet is with a 48 foot wedge. 51 will put you at 68 speaking from a 3rd gen dodge quadcab. You can always buy yearly permits though. Most dont have a problem with being overlength except from florida which costs $20 for the year. This allows you to be up to 75 long 14 high. I had a problem a few years back in ohio and they were stating you cant be over 53 feet long for trailer only. They measured bumper of vehicle to bumper of vehicle. Even though that wedge was 50ft, I had 4 vehicles on it. Those were the only 2 times I have had problems. And when I had my wedge i was always around 71 feet or so with 4 vehicles since they measure front of tow vehicle to very last part of trailer/load. 4 cars would measure back bumper of last car. I hear tx gives people problems too but ive never experienced that and when I started I ran tx for a dedicated route. Hopefully this extra info helps that I should of added in my first reply. dont let anybody tell you you cant make money with that setup. Just gotta stay at it!!!!

[sclyde]

With a gooseneck ball setup, 65 feet is the law in most states. With a pickup truck, with bed or without, a 5th wheel hitch exempts the truck or tractor--they measure only the trailer, which is 53 feet in most states; and they measure every bit of it. The DOT explained to me that the big trucking companies lobbied for the 5th wheel exemption so they could have huge sleepers or "condos on wheels" without being part of the measurement.

[j&l]

interesting often wonderd how companies like reliable got away with those big sleepers

[j&l]

so i should be alright with a 3500 and a 50 wedge

[h2oskibumz]

Don't waste your hard won $$$ on a 50. Go straight to a 53 with front and rear flips and get whatever permits you need to stay legal. Coming from the 9car you know that every foot counts. I have 53' plus 2' of flip in the front and 32" of pull out in the rear. I struggle to get 4 cars on, both physically and from an axle weight standpoint. One Cadillac or Suburban and your a 3 car rig...

We run midwest to southeast a lot with both trucks in at around 68' long.

Pretty much the only states that care are TX and FL and you can buy a $20/year permit for FL. Our Dodge (with bed on) stays the hell out of TX at 68' long but the Chevy (sans bed) rolls through TX routinely. Without the pickup bed they mostly all consider you a tractor.

I'm told MO is a hard ass about it but I'm BASED in MO and run a ton of miles here. Never been hassled in MO.

[ccoop769]

Personally coming from experience, I wouldnt get a wedge. Get a truer 4 car. like the kaufman or infiniti. Jump up to a 4500 if possible, NOT A CHEVY!!! hehe, or just do it with the 3500. prolly will be over your axle alot with the heavier stuff, ive never been hastlled, but your income will be alot more while having a shorter trailer. But i would get a dodge 4500 for sure if your stuck on getting a small truck, but if you cant, oh well. Its a fine line between axle weight vs 4th car all the time. Me personally the 4th car far exceeds the axle weight. With that said, your not really over that much and load it right you wont be over. Remember a wedge can put you over also with 3 vehicles so you have to load that right too. All my pics are from the kaufman 50 and take 3 51. Still always wishing I had more space. Thats why I love this stacker I have now, 67 feet of cargo space is nice, have room for 3 vehicles and a big 1 if you choose to throw in that extra mile. Usually that big vehicle in the back is the dollar per mile vehicle. Not throwing you the right legal info just throwing in my experience between the trailers.

[sclyde]

The only time I ran into a length problem was in Ohio. It was at the weigh station heading south on 71 near Cincinatti. I went thru several others with the same load. I have since heard that the weighmaster there is a real pain. It cost me $98.00 and an out of service for most of a day. I was out of service there for 17 hours and they finally told me that if I went out the back way they wouldn't see me.

[j&l]

thats a strang thing to say why did they put you out of service

[sclyde]

They wanted the overlength corrected before I left. Which I couldn't do.

[Buster]

I've seen this happen before. Just call a tow truck to take one car to the next off ramp, pay him, reload it and leave.

[cosgo]

You could always leave one car there and come back for it.

[Buster]

Often the dot will not let you leave it at the scales.

[cosgo]

Ive had to do that before. left one there.... "delivered" one, and came back for the one i left ....... =)

[NDanecker]

Could you drop one at the scales then leave dropping another one a few miles away at a Walmart or something. Then return to scale house and say you delivered one? Or would they be on to this, or not even care?

This may be what cosgo was alluding to!

[Buster]

Yes thats what cosgo was referring to and what I would do in this situation. Just be careful when you go inside the scale house. If they ask for a delivery receipt you might have to go out to the truck and make a fake one.