Box truck for personal use - CDL?

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Originally Posted by banman

No. The "workers" needed CDL's because anything business = commercial use.

Your owning that for personal use is no different than your renting a Uhaul for personal use -- no cdl required.

Not exactly. By that logic, an electrician's half-ton pickup would require a CDL.

Here is what requires a CDL...

Class C - Any combination vehicle not covered under Class B or A. Any single small vehicles carrying HazMat (think FedEx home delivery trucks). Passenger vehicles for hire over 15 passenger, which means most any smaller bus in its original configuration. Very few are exempt.
Class B - Any single vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of over 26,000 lbs.
Class A - Any combination vehicle where the towing vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating exceeds 26,000 lbs, or the towed unit's GVWR is over 10,000 lbs.

So, technically, a boat trailer pulled by a half-ton pickup requires a Class C, and an F350 dually pulling a fifth-wheel camper or gooseneck will generally require a Class A if the trailer is rated for over 10k. Do police generally target such vehicles for enforcement? No. But it doesn't mean they can't. THE ONLY EXEMPTION is, of course, registered as...

A) Private / Not For-Hire
B) Recreational Vehicle / Motorhome

The short answer is, like a school bus, a CDL *IS* required in its original configuration and usage if it grosses over 26k and carries over 15 passengers. A typical school bus requires a Class B or C with P and S endorsements. This truck looks to require a Class B and a weighted plate.

Driving OTR, I have seen countless rental trucks pulled over on the side of the road (Penske, not U-Hauls) to check for compliance and overloading. Lots of fly-by-night couriers out there that register a truck privately or rent a moving truck to illegally haul commercial freight. The cops know this, and they do check if there is reason to believe so. Same with skoolies, that is why most states require an inspection by a state trooper to verify the vehicle can no longer carry passengers for-hire.

Assuming this truck grosses over 26k, you could have a reasonable expectation to be stopped for not having an apportioned / weighted / commercial plate. But once the door is rolled up and they see the box is empty or converted to an RV, most won't bother you. It MAY, however, take awhile for authorities to realize. A good idea would be to have the doors and box lettered "PRIVATE / NOT FOR-HIRE". It may not keep you from being stopped, however. Would you be doing anything wrong? Not technically, as long as the box is empty. But at the basics, you would be operating a vehicle that typically requires commercial permits and licensing. No more, no less. And believe me, you do NOT want a ticket for operating a vehicle that normally requires a CDL without one.

With what some here have had to go through getting a skoolie exempted, I can only imagine it would be more headache with that. The big question is, if the truck is rated for over 26,000 lbs. If it is not, there's your in -- it will not require a CDL... Air brakes do not necessarily mandate CDL requirement, they are a simple endorsement that can be attached to ANY valid license. I've seen vehicles with air brakes that grossed under 26k, and I've seen vehicles without that grossed over 26k.

Can it be done? Yes. But do your research before you buy it. Getting it registered as Private / Not-For-Hire or as a Motorhome may or may not be as easy or as difficult as you think. Lots of people are converting U-Hauls, but U-Hauls do not require a CDL because none of them gross over 26k - nor do they have air brakes. I can tell you that this truck may well gross over that, and it likely has air brakes, which I would highly recommend consulting a CDL driver's manual to ensure safe operation for.

In short, it all depends on the GVWR of the truck. There ARE commercial trucks that are converted for such use (referred to as Toterhomes, you might see if there is a forum for these folks), and supposedly don't require a CDL, but I'm quite sure they are registered as Private / Not-For-Hire / Motorhome. That will be the major hurdle. I would start with finding out whether the truck grosses over 26k, and if it does, talk to your state's vehicle licensing agency about registering such a vehicle as Private / Not-For-Hire / Motorhome.

I'm not sure any state will allow a non-weighted plate on a vehicle that typically requires a CDL without batting an eye. Back in the day when I drove a taxi, someone screwed up and allowed a fly-by-night limo company to privately tag a 22-passenger minibus. Completely illegal, because they were driving it around picking people up at random places just like a taxicab, which violated their state permit even if the bus had been properly licensed. Buses and limos are a common carrier, which means set pick-up and destination and/or route, any other type of operation is illegal under their permit category.

Hadn't read until now that you went with a shorty, and you're right, probably a lot less headache, not that it won't be a headache. LOL. Depends on who you talk to at your licensing agency and whether they know what they're doing.