Are You Legally Capable Of Towing Your Big Rig?

If your loaded weight is over the maximum, then it is time to put your RV on a diet and shed some pounds.

As trailers grow longer and include more slideouts, they have grown heavier. Larger units seem to invite people to load more of their stuff aboard, while some of the new toy haulers can carry significant weight in their built-in garage. There is growing concern among RVers that some drivers may be pulling rigs that are heavier than their license allows. The implication is that one's insurance company could refuse to honor a claim on that basis in the event of an accident.

We have received many letters and phone calls from readers who have been notified that they are not properly licensed to tow their larger travel trailers or fifth wheel trailers in their home province. Most RVers have a basic driver's license (class G in Ontario, class 5 elsewhere) that allows them to drive a car, van, truck or SUV. A quick check of the back of your license will reveal how much loaded weight you are allowed to tow behind your vehicle Ð generally somewhere around 4,500 kilograms. It will also indicate the maximum weight of a motorhome that you can drive. It's important to know this, because that larger RV in your future might require a license upgrade.

My good friend Walter Cannon at the Recreational Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) informed me that 59 percent of the motorhomes, 60 percent of the tow vehicles, 51 percent of the travel trailers, and 55 percent of the fifth-wheel trailers the RVSEF weighed at various rallies last year were overweight in one or more categories. Now is the time to take your big rig to a weigh station and weigh each axle, to be sure it is not over the gross axle weight rating and to find out if your overall loaded weight exceeds what your driver's license allows.

If your loaded weight is over the maximum, then it is time to put your RV on a diet and shed some pounds. Removing gear you simply don't use can make quite a difference. Do you really need that step ladder and the extra barbeque tank?

As a matter of interest, here is a sampling of some of the mail we have recently received concerning weight restrictions on a standard driver's license.
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(Read the full article in the magazine)