Originally Posted by 27daytona

The commercial haulers could best answer this question. I can only relay my personal experience towing my boat and trailer that weights 17000 lbs and is 44 feet long. I tow with a 2004 Chevy Kodiak 5500 series Monroe pickup. I was ticketed for not having a CDL and not having a wide load permit. I was told that when you get over a 1 ton truck you fall into the world of big trucks, hence weight stations and log books, everything that goes with being a real life trucker. What a kick in the balls that was. I now have a CDL and an annual wide load permit for California, I purchase a temperary permit for any other states that I might travel through. I carry the wide load signs in my truck but seldom display them and do not stop at weight stations. I have all the correct and required stuff, the troopers can ticket me for not stopping at the scales or displaying the wide load signs but without the permits and CDL, they can park you until the permits are acquired and you hire a commercial driver. Check your state laws. You may find that truck weight and trailer length regulate whether or not a CDL is required. Oh yeah, the other negative with a CDL is your alchohol limit is 1/2 of a regular driver license, all the time, kind of limits your drinking. Now I can only drink one beer rather than two and drive anything, anytime. Hell, I pretty much now never drink anything if I'm driving anything, anywhere. I understand that California is the land of laws but with every state in financial trouble look for trucking laws to be enforced even closer. I don't fear the regular CHP but do hold my breath when I see a Commercial Highway Patrol Truck. The big haulers look cool and pull nice but if your boat and trailers fall into the capacity of a one ton dually, stay in that world. The big truck world gets pretty costly, I wince everytime I think of the B.S. that I go through just to pull a boat. Good luck, and hope this helps. Doug