Your state might have a noncommercial farm use CDL. I know Texas does. Delaware, too.
That was one thing that was interesting with Virginia. If you were not for hire (i.e. not in commerce) you could drive anything, regardless of weight. But if you helped pull a friend out of a ditch as soon as that friend gave you a buck for fuel you were commercial. As long as you don't accept any money for driving what you have Virginia lets you do it on a regular license. This is what the federal guidelines allow. Its just that not many other states allow it. Virginia does have a CDL exemption for farm use (which is also from the federal guidelines) but you are restricted on distance and I don't think you can cross the state line. If you don't have a farm and get farm plates that can lead to a rash of problems if you get caught.
If 5 ton is going to cost that much more to insure properly and have to deal with fuel tax, commercial plates, and the rest of the lot I think I will stay out of the 5ton area and just focus on the deuce.
You will still have some of those issues wether you have a deuce and a half or a 5 ton. This is due to two reasons; 1.) tandem axles and 2.) a weight over 10,000 pounds.
Item 1.) This is why I asked about where you will be using it. If you never ever ever plan on taking it out of state then tandem axles will mean nothing. It's only when you cross the border in to another state. This is when IFTA and IRP kick in, regardless of weight and not-for-profit use. All because of tandem axles.
Item 2.) Anything over 10,000 pounds gets in to commercial registration. And you don't pay based on the vehicle's actual empty weight, you pay based on total weight (i.e. truck weight plus load weight) that you want to haul (this can be less or more then GVWR, you tell DMV the amount you want). This is called a registration weight or weighted tag. If you get stopped at a scale with a load and your total weight is higher then the registered weight on the tag then get ready to pay some hefty fines. Since a deuce and a half is lighter then a 5 ton you can save some money by being able to pay for a lower weight rating with a deuce and a half dump truck. The one thing I don't know is if Virginia has two rates for weighted tags, one for private and one for commercial use. When I got Virginia tags for my semi truck and trailer I told them I wanted 40,000 pounds on the registration and that I was private (not for hire). I don't know if they would have been more if I was for hire.
The biggest item is how will you use it, not for hire or for profit every now and then? If you plan on doing the occasional odd job for profit then the whole operation is treated as commercial and a CDL will be a must (along with a med card) if you go with a 5 ton, even if you don't exceed 26,000 pounds total weight as all they care about is GVWR. If you don't plan on using it for any profit at all then a 5 ton won't be too much of a problem versus a deuce and a half, especially if the truck never leaves the state. You will just have to pay a little extra insurance and registration.
If you will be not-for-hire you might be able to get a low cost antigue plate. Virginia does not have a weight restriction on antigue plates and they allow a little more freedom of use then most states. I don't know if you are allowed to haul any loads or not so you would have to check if there is any limits on that.
I'd say less than 5% of the ppl on this board own and operate a 5 ton legally in the commercial world. Some just try to be a little more legal than others.
What doesn't help is that many people try to comply with the laws but get nothing but a run-around and give up on trying to follow them. While I don't have a 5 ton I do have an antique semi truck. I like to use it for more then what antique plates allow so I get weighted tags. And it isn't cheap either. When I looked in to Florida tags I found out anything over 5,000 pounds (empty weight) is charged for commercial tags, even if it is not for hire. To add insult to injury when I went to transfer my Progressive commercial insurance policy from Alaska to Florida I was told I couldn't do it because Florida requires commecial policies to only be issued to businesses. No business, no commercial insurance. But because the truck is over 10,000 pounds I can't get regular insurance. Florida says I have to pay for commercial registration even if I'm not for hire yet they have a law that won't let me get commercial insurance because I don't have a business. WTF is wrong with this picture? I'm trying to do more then what is required but all I get is a run-around. I contacted Gulfway and they sent me the paperwork for their antique coverage. I told them I wanted insurance that would allow me more freedom in the truck's use and asked for info on such a policy. That was last week and I have yet to hear back from them. At this point I'm about to put a larger sleeper on the truck and convert it in to a Toterhome so I can get RV insurance.
Ruppster
