RV Combined Length Limits

[CGRAVES]

How many vehicles and trailers can you legally pull with a 40-foot RV?

[wolfe10]

How many vehicles and trailers can you legally pull with a 40-foot RV?

Each state and Canadian province sets the legal limits in their domain, and these laws are subject to change. So be careful with taking answers from people who can give information for THEIR state and applying it to YOUR state(s).

FMC magazine's January 2009 issue contains a Motorhome Regulations chart that includes a combined length limit for each state and Canadian province.

The chart also includes phone numbers of government agencies so you can get more info.

Brett Wolfe

[bebop]

only 1 in Califorina, and the max length is 65 feet overall.

when I was full timing I used to see tandem hookups coming out of Oklahoma into south Texas and that was legal in those two states but it seems to me that at that time in the 80's those were the only two states that allowed tandem hookups.

Look in the good sam rv park directory for that information.

bebop

[MONTIE]

How could one person driving across the country meet all the differant driver's liscense requirements of all the states? I am leaving on a trip Sept. 8 -- going north to Maine -- and I looked at the states I will be going through. Will I need a commerical license to cross these states?

[Guest Wayne77590]

On the surface, it appears that if you vehicle weighs more than 26,000 pounds you need a TN CDL in that state. Or, if you pull a trailer over 10,001 or more, you need a A/57 license.

As far as any other state is concerned, they have reciprocal agreements in that what ever you are licensed to drive in your home state, you can drive in any other state. What one needs to do is look into a Non-Commercial license from your state that will allow you to drive the same weighted vehicle, but not commercially. I don't know of to many RV owners who drive there rig "commercially."

My 2008 Winnebago is 27,000 pounds dry and I had a TX Class A CDL but since I do not drive commercially anymore, I turned it in for a Class A non-CDL. A little less money, and if I get a ticket I can take Defensive Driving. With a CDL you just pay the fine, and they are steep for a CDL holder.

[wolfe10]

Looks like we are addressing to very different, but very important issues in this thread:

VEHICLE RESTRICTIONS: Length, number of "trailers," axle weights, etc. These are set by each state and apply to all vehicles operated in that state (i.e. just because it is legal in state A does NOT mean it is legal in state .

PERSONAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS: Vary by state (As in Wayne's example for Texas different licenses are required for GVWR of over 26,000 vs. under). Here, there IS reciprocity between states -- states do recognize other states' licenses. So if you have the appropriate license for your state, you are good in other states.

Brett Wolfe

[MONTIE]

Thanks Guys, for us that are just learning you save me a lot of time looking for something. With the state sites as they are I can't find anything but you guys always come through

[jleamont]

Brett, do you have an updated "Motorhome regulation Chart"? The link above no longer works and I wanted to see what states have changed their laws since.

Thank you,

Joe

[ultraglide]

FMCA's chart says that you should be no more than 65 ft for most states. In traveling I have seen RV's up to 80 ft . One 45 ft RV with a 35 or 40 ft trailer. In Illinois I have asked the State Police about being 65ft and have been told your an RV not a truck so no limit. I myself am in a 42 ft class A I used to have a 24 ft trailer with a 4 ft neck. I looked long I change to a tandom towdolly. I don't look as long. I did go from 72 ft to 73 ft long. We have traveled in the southern states mostly and I do carry a Class A CDL.

[tbutler]

Here is a reference for towing laws in the US and Canada. The web page is dated 2015. We're headed for the Northeast US and Canada. Towing lengths are less than 65 in many of the states in the northeast. In Massachusetts the limit for combined vehicle length is 60 feet. I'll be about 62 feet. In New Hampshire the combined vehicle limit is "none" but the two vehicle limit is 45 feet. I'm not sure what that difference is as far as definition. I do know that we've traveled through these states before and never had a problem. Now if we had an accident there could be problems. Smile and say yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir!

[jleamont]

Thanks for the information. After reading this yesterday I measured our combo last night. We check in at 60'.2" I struggle with the thought of a jeep wrangler 2 door being too long to tow behind a 40' motorhome (actually 41'6") but none the less it seems odd.

I only seem to get stopped in Oklahoma, twice that is on the same trip on I-44 at the toll booths. Both times they claimed I did not use my right signal when the officer was sitting on the driver’s side of the unit at about the 11:00 position, not sure about you but I cannot see through any vehicle let alone a motorhome. I explained to the officer that when you are turning right only the right blinker will flash, when you are sitting where you were you view is blocked. The first one got mad the second trooper laughed and that’s when he admitted they stop most of the RV's that pass through.

They make it a point to stop RV's looking for illegal aliens or drug runners. Both times they asked me what I was doing, where I was headed and where I came from they asked my wife the same question while we were separated. Neither time was a citation issued, which was good since I had my turn signal on.

[campcop]

On one of our trips in CO we bumped into a couple that had just come from Alberta, Canada. He told us he was stopped in Alberta after coming in from BC. He was told in BC he could tow his MC trailer behind his 5th wheel in Canada.....not only did he get a ticket in Alberta, he had to unhook the MC trailer, call a tow truck and have it towed to the U.S. Border...

[jleamont]

Campcop,

Wow, thats a bad way to start your trip. Funny you mentioned the towing. While I was on the side of the road in OK you could hear off in the distance an engine wound out getting closer...... and here comes an old Chevy 1500 pick up pulling a fifth wheel TT with a car trailer hitched on the back of the TT with a truck on it. I looked at the police officer and said "and you stopped me?" His response was, "whats wrong with that"? I just shook my head and responded "UHH, the truck is extremely overloaded and how well do you think that stops, or handles the winds out here on these flat lands"? he shrugged his shoulders.

And I am worried about towing a 3400lb jeep wrangler behind a 40' bus in a 60' combination, just depends where you are traveling.

I will say we have seen some really funny things on the highway traveling.

[campcop]

Campcop,

Wow, thats a bad way to start your trip. Funny you mentioned the towing. While I was on the side of the road in OK you could hear off in the distance an engine wound out getting closer...... and here comes an old Chevy 1500 pick up pulling a fifth wheel TT with a car trailer hitched on the back of the TT with a truck on it. I looked at the police officer and said "and you stopped me?" His response was, "whats wrong with that"? I just shook my head and responded "UHH, the truck is extremely overloaded and how well do you think that stops, or handles the winds out here on these flat lands"? he shrugged his shoulders.

And I am worried about towing a 3400lb jeep wrangler behind a 40' bus in a 60' combination, just depends where you are traveling.

I will say we have seen some really funny things on the highway traveling.

When we come across things like that, I either slow way down or get past them as fast as I can

[planocat]

Here is a reference for towing laws in the US and Canada. The web page is dated 2015. We're headed for the Northeast US and Canada. Towing lengths are less than 65 in many of the states in the northeast. In Massachusetts the limit for combined vehicle length is 60 feet. I'll be about 62 feet. In New Hampshire the combined vehicle limit is "none" but the two vehicle limit is 45 feet. I'm not sure what that difference is as far as definition. I do know that we've traveled through these states before and never had a problem. Now if we had an accident there could be problems. Smile and say yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir!

Do you really think the law in Arkansas limits motorhomes to 40' or is that a typo?

[tbutler]

It isn't my table, just a reference that I passed along. You could contact the AR Department of Transportation for clarification. It wouldn't surprise me if it were correct. There are tons of laws on the books which are outdated and haven't been revised or repealed to reflect current practices. You can search the internet for dumb laws and come up with dozens of examples.

[Cookie]

Yes, in some states is legal to haul 'doubles' with a pickup, as long as the first 'towed vehicle' is a fifth-wheel. The method of connection is the main concern, both from a control standpoint and a security of the connection standpoint.

I have hauled three trailers at a time as a truck driver, and you go to states in the east where they can't even haul two at a time, and they can't believe that something like that would be legal anywhere. It is just what you are used to seeing, and what the law allows.