2011 Chevy Express cutaway van box truck - GVWR rating questions

[Milacron]

GVWR figure on door is 10,000 lbs. Weight of the van and chassis is probably around 4000 lbs.... weight of the 12 foot box and lift gate...dunno...but would think at least 3,500 lbs. So that leaves payload capability of 2,500 lbs ? And this is a dually. That's such pitiful* payload I wonder what I might be missing ?

I carried two FP3 Deckel mills in a UHaul cutaway box truck 600 miles over hill and dale years ago and don't recall it being all that daunting...probably 5,000 lb payload at least.

Any chance GM put that 10K figure on there for reasons having to do with avoiding the need for DOT numbers or other legalities ?

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*Even less still if you figure in the driver weight

 

[jakefreese]

The break for the dot is 10,000. This is why we had gotten many trucks and vans with the 9900 grvw. The 1 ton payload is about right. Can they handle more well yeah.... I remember when I moved to Texas, I had the 18' uhaul loaded to 16,000# pulling a 11,000# trailer 40mph tops and 5mpg....

 

[jakefreese]

Duh hhhhhh

The break for the dot is 10,000. 10k requires dot and the higher insurance. This is why we had gotten many trucks and vans with the 9900 grvw. The 1 ton payload is about right. Can they handle more well yeah.... I remember when I moved to Texas, I had the 18' uhaul loaded to 16,000# pulling a 11,000# trailer 40mph tops and 5mpg....

 

[bryan_machine]

Well, my 2008 F250 had the "10,000# GVW" package. I could never quite figure out what that meant, since it has 2 6K# axles, the capacities of the tires add up to 12K# etc. Also, in WA they make you license for curb weight * 1.5x min, to the nearest 2K#. So it's licensed for 12K#.

So yes, it's quite possible that the van in question is only labelled as "10,000#" for interstate regulatory reasons. It's also possible its tranmission, brakes, or some other vital component isn't really up to 12K or 14K duty. Though hard to imagine a GM duly having less total capacity than an NPR....

Note that regulatory issues can get quite weird - I'm told that inside WA state, they don't much care about the GVW rating - they want to see axle, tire, etc ratings, and loads. (I do nothing commercial and have no interaction with the DOT.) Also, if it's "more than 10,000" being driven across state lines for commerce there are supposed to be log books, etc., not just a DOT number. Does this mean that if you get stopped in your van labelled for 10,000 but with 12,000 gross they'll give giant grief? I have no idea.

 

[Admin5]

The break for the dot is 10,000. This is why we had gotten many trucks and vans with the 9900 grvw. The 1 ton payload is about right. Can they handle more well yeah.... I remember when I moved to Texas, I had the 18' uhaul loaded to 16,000# pulling a 11,000# trailer 40mph tops and 5mpg....

That would be rather annoying if 10,000 is exactly the point at which DOT numbers are required since they could just as well have tagged it at 9,999 lbs ! Then again how lame that it just happens to be exactly 10,000 lbs.... not 10,205 lbs or whatever, but exactly 10,000 lbs...

Milacron

 

[jakefreese]

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/390.5


I was wrong, it used to be 10,000.

It's 10,001 per the above link. Yes you have to be tagged for your weight, they could give you an overweight ticket. Interstate is a pain. Not only are the federal dot rules different but then you have to decode the state laws too. Most of the time the smaller trucks are over looked, they are after the semi trucks, but like here txdps has been cracking down on the commercial haulers with dually t pickups and tandem dual trailers as they are over the 10k truck and 26k combined.

 

[bryan_machine]

WA state law is all written as "26,001 or more" - meaning they clearly intend "strictly greater than" but for the apparently large part of the population that does not understand that they write "26,001 or more" or "15 or more passengers including driver"

I often see tental trucks listed at 9950 or 25950 or 25999 and have a trailer marked 9950.

In practice how close do you ever come to such a limit without going over?

 

[Milacron]

I often see tental trucks listed at 9950 or 25950 or 25999 and have a trailer marked 9950.

I was talking with a truck body manuf. today and he tells me the law changed about a year ago to 9,500 lb requirement to go thru weight station and DOT number.

But looking online I find no evidence of that. Check out link below and notice it was updated just 3 weeks ago. I wonder where the heck he conjured up the supposed new figure ?

https://ask.fmcsa.dot.gov/app/answe...sion/L3RpbWUvMTQyMTkzNjc2Ni9zaWQvX25Bdzk1ZG0=

(you may have to scroll up to see the FAQ area)

 

[bryan_machine]

Aren't all of the weigh check stations operated by the states? WA has a bunch that say "trucks over 16,000# must weigh" ...

This is of course just a digest, but if it's at all accurate note how different the laws of various states are at least reported to be:
Weigh Stations | AAA/CAA Digest of Motor Laws

And while they say "trucks with GVWR over 10000 must stop" for WA (where I live) there are signs on the freeway that say "trucks and trucks with trailer over 16000 must stop"