DOT and Towing News

[Blue Water Runner]

I saw this on THT and thought I would share it:

Hey guys,

I am copying some information here from SKA's website regarding changing the laws about towing boats and the severe fines we have been receiving.

WE NEED TO TAKE THE TIME TO SEND LETTERS AND LOBBY TO GET CHANGES MADE!!!

Official Site of the Southern Kingfish Association

TIME TO PUT UP A FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT!!

You may be aware that several SKA members, as well as fishermen fishing with other organizations, or just traveling to and from their local boat ramps for a Sunday outing, have been stopped and sometimes detained for hours by State Troopers who seem to have targeted anyone who can afford to own a boat. Fines levied have been extreme and many fishermen have taken quite a beating from the overzealous officers who seem enjoy making everyone’s life miserable.

We have spent lots of time looking into what the SKA can do to make any kind of change to this unwarranted harassment. Both Jack and I have made dozens of calls to state and federal agencies that have any kind of jurisdiction over this problem. You can talk to five different individuals at the same location and get five different answers. No one even tries to help with the problem. The only thing that stays the same at the federal level is that they all say that if you are fishing for a prize of any kind then you are considered to be a commercial enterprise and so you are subject to USDOT regulations if your vehicle gross weight is over 10,001 pounds. That means that you have to apply and display a USDOT number, stop at all weigh stations, and keep log books when you travel. State governments can’t legally deviate from these regulations for fear of losing federal funding but many states consider our sport as recreation and look the other way when we drive by.

Any change that will help clear up this problem will have to be made at the federal level.

Attached is a letter that you can copy and send to your state senators and representatives and Secretary of Transportation, Mary E. Peters and also to the two transportation sub-committee leaders listed below. From my conversations with many different people in Washington, they all have said that 10,000 letters can make everyone involved with these regulations take a good look at making a change. Also attached is a list of U.S. Senators as well as a link to get the information on your U.S. Representative. Get all your friends and neighbors involved and have them help us make a change.

I have spoken with several of our members who have already talked with local and state leaders to put the pressure on them to help make this problem go away. Many thanks go to you guys. Please keep up the good work.

If you have any other ideas that can help alleviate this problem, please email me at rkflocken@FishSKA.com

Together, with lots of letters and a little luck, we can get this legislation changed.

Thanks!

Bob Flocken
Operations Director
Southern Kingfish Association
rkflocken@fishska.com

[offshore]

Has anyone read the back of their weighted tag Registration?? Read it closely. Besides the determination of weight for your tag it also states that if your trailer has three Axles you must also have a Fuel decal?? Anyone know what that is. It Might be the DOT stcker mentioned above. Damn it will cost some people $1000 dollars a year in stickers and tags before they leave the house!!!... Mark

[Blue Water Runner]

That alone would be a good reason to have a tandem axle trailer with two 7k axles rather than a triple with 5200s.

Fuel for thought. A lot of flat bed trailer manufacturers also de-rate their trailer capacity to 10k for their customers financial reasons.