Logic would dictate that if you're towing more than 15,000 pounds, you'd need to take a longer written test or maybe a simple driving test, right?
Hahahahahahahaha! If you said yes, you clearly don't know California.
No, if your trailer has a GVWR over 15,000 pounds, you need to get a non-commercial Class A license--essentially the same license big rig operators have.
That entails taking a written test to get a permit. Then, any time you tow your trailer, you need to have someone with a Class A license with you. Then you need to take your person and your trailer back to the DMV to do a rigorous driving, maneuverability, and safety test.
Our trailer has a GVWR of 15,500 pounds. If it were 500 pounds lighter, Steve would be done in about 10 minutes. Since it's 500 pounds heavier, we get to jump through a bunch of hoops. Don't get me wrong: I understand the need to have more stringent requirements for larger vehicles, but doesn't it seem like there should be some sort of middle-ground?
There are a lot of people out there with vehicles over 15,000 pounds who don't have a Class A license, either because they don't know they need one or because the DMV doesn't realize it. Steve has read stories about people going their entire RVing lives without the proper license and never running into trouble. He has also read about people losing their driving privileges because of it.
We're not ones to risk things when it comes to the law, so we're going by the book. Obviously this raises some questions about how, exactly, we get our trailer to California and what we do with it once we're here.
My suggestion was to drive it to the Arizona-California border and have someone with a Class A license meet us, then figure out the rest later. My contention was that if the states we're going through have no requirement for a special license, we're fine. Steve, on the other hand, contends that if we're driving with a California license, it needs to be a proper California license, regardless of the state we're in.
Rather than consult a lawyer, we have decided that the best course of action is for Steve to get his Class A before we leave. That will require borrowing a truck and fifth wheel, and also borrowing a person with Class A license to take to the test. Hopefully between friends and people in the fire department we'll be able to secure both. And hopefully he'll pass. (Thirty years of maneuvering fire trucks ought to pay off in this situation.)
Obviously other states come with their own quirks and frustrations, but it seems to be especially rampant here. Just one more reason we're not too upset about leaving California.
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