FLORIDA D.O.T. RACE RIG ENFORCEMENTS
As drag racers in the eastern U.S. prepare to head down to Florida to finish off the season, they might do well to bear this in mind: the Florida DOT is intent on enforcing section 390 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. While most race rigs probably already comply with this national statute regarding commercial vehicles, a few circle track racers were caught unawares a couple months back.
As reported in the August 22 issue of National Speed Sport News by NSSN staff writer John Clayton, a group of racers traveling through Florida turned around and went home, apparently facing heavy fines for not being in compliance with commercial vehicle requirements.
According to Keith Johnson, director of the American Sprint Car Series Coastal Region, this action nearly killed attendance for his event at Southern Raceway in Milton, FL.
“It had something to do with the length of the trailer behind the axles,” Johnson reported, “the (graphics) on the trailers, if you had any kind of sponsors on the trailers…You had to have a CDL (commercial driver licenses) whether it was their motorhome type or not… I cancelled my race there for next year; I’m not going to go back.”
The regulations, which are federal and not state, defines a commercial motor vehicle as “any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property…”
“When we’re talking about commercial vehicles, we’re talking a combination with over 10,000 pound (gross) weight rating,” explained Lt. Jeff Frost, Public Information Officer, Florida DOT Motor Carrier Compliance Office. He points out that even a pickup hauling a big trailer could be considered commercial under this criteria, and have to meet the same requirements as a tractor-trailer.
“They require a CDL, they have to do drug testing, they have to have a DOT number,” Lt. Frost outlined. “So yeah, a pickup truck pulling a goose-neck trailer would be required to pull into the scales.”
Are there exceptions? In a section entitled “Interpretation for Part 390: General,” the guidelines are spelled out:
Question 21: Does the exemption in §390.3(f)(3) for the "occasional transportation of personal property by individuals not for compensation nor in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise" apply to persons who occasionally use CMVs to transport cars, boats, horses, etc., to races, tournaments, shows or similar events, even if prize money is offered at these events?
Guidance: The exemption would apply to this kind of transportation, provided: (1) The underlying activities are not undertaken for profit, i.e., (a) prize money is declared as ordinary income for tax purposes, and (b) the cost of the underlying activities is not deducted as a business expense for tax purposes; and, where relevant; (2) corporate sponsorship is not involved. Drivers must confer with their State of licensure to determine the licensing provisions to which they are subject.
The point of contention is “corporate sponsorship.” Should your combined gross vehicle weight exceed 10,000 pounds and you’ve got sponsor decals on your trailer or the race car inside the trailer, that’s considered corporate sponsorship and thus isn’t exempt
Frost further explained that ’toterhomes,’ RVs built on heavy duty truck or tractor chassis’s, are generally perceived as commercial vehicles by Florida law enforcement, “particularly when you put a big race trailer behind it,” he added. “It’s obvious that it’s not someone just going camping….So it’s not necessarily that it’s a ‘toterhome,’ it’s what you’re doing with whatever vehicle you’re pulling.
“If it appears like that,” he continued, “one of our officers may see it going by the scales and think it’s something other than strictly an RV, stop it, and then they’re going to ask questions. If someone has any doubt, I would say pull into the weigh station, because you’re never going to get a citation for pulling into the weight station because you didn’t have to.”
Lt. Frost also said should a person owning a business, say a construction company, and they put their toterhome or RV in the construction company’s name, that would also designate the rig as a commercial vehicle and thus subject to regulation.
Is Florida’s enforcement of this regulation new? Not according to Lt. Frost. “If you come into a (FL) weigh station and you’re not in compliance, we’re going to take the enforcement action. I believe (what happened in August) was that some people were issued citations and so forth for various violations. And then the word spread that ‘hey, if you’re coming into Florida, I was stopped and told I had to have a DOT number, commercial drivers license‘--whatever… It wasn’t like we were out there turning them around in the middle of the road, or they got there and we said ’if you come past this point you have to have this.’ We’re not a point-of-entry state.”
If you have any questions about compliance, you may want to refer to http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rulesregulations/, particularly Section 390.
