[Tim Burr]

Can I buy a big truck and drive it around without a class A license? I’m thinking a 13 speed with sleeper. I wouldn’t have trailer, but the truck would have air brakes. I went to the DMV web site and it says “3 axles less than 6000lbs gross” what does a tractor weight?

I got rid of most of my toys a few years back, so spending $50k on a new rig is doable, I’ve spent that on a RV, and close to that building buggy’s and 4Xs, and all my cars have cost close to that the last ten years.

I’m thinking heck if I go to CDL school someday I would be able to do home work. I could hone some of my skills and get the comfort level up. I’m not sure what my insurance man would say (or cost), but I do have a 28 foot RV off-street parking space (how long is a big truck?).

I see 2007’s as low as $30K, and I think that’s as old as I should go.

Feel free to point out what a dumb idea this is, I’d rather know now.

Thanks

PS I put this here since it’s not really ‘trucking’ question, just a Q with a truck in it. BTW, I did a search, but got 15 threads, but didn’t find with this answer.

[mgfg]

You need a CDL to drive a semi on a public roadway.

A tractor will weight between 15,000 and 20,000 lbs.

The average highway truck will not fit in a 27' spot (bumper to tail lights.

You haven't indicated as to what you "need" this truck for> but it does sound crazy so far. Give us a bit more insight as to your plans.

[Tim Burr]

Thanks mgfg, you answered my 3 questions perfectly. Not the answers I wanted to hear, but info I wanted to know. I was mainly asking the question because it was one question I had, and could not find find an answer for.

Remember you asked about the ‘Need’ issue, so here is a long winded reply. Ha ha

Well ‘need’ is not the case at this time, more of a ‘wanted’ thing. I was thinking I could buy a tractor and spend time driving it around to get comfortable, learn shifting, and just seeing how the wife and I liked the ride. Then if I decided to drop the driving career I could sell the truck (IMO better to loose $10k now than loose untold $$ and hate being stuck in a big truck later), or if I went to CDL school I’d have my own truck to practice with on my own time.

My wife and I currently have good paying jobs, but things are changing for both of us. Like many others we are looking at the trucking industry as a husband-wife team as a career change for our final working years. No matter how we get into trucking, I won’t want to spend years doing it in a ‘rented’ truck.

I’d have a lot of research to do before I really consider buying a truck, but since I would need a class A no need to think about a truck till I do some CDL schooling.

I don’t have the data, but it appears it’s a buyers market in used trucks (won’t go into the reason for that) right now. If I’m going to get into trucking within the next year, soon might be a good time to buy a truck.

Anyway thanks again for the reply and since you know more about some of my research/ideas feel free to add more if you want, of course all are welcome to reply.

Thanks everyone who read my post.

[RebelDarlin]

Actually there is a class A noncommercial license . Check with your DMV. As long as its for personal use and not for hire the requirements are different and there are no endorsements.

[repete]

Buying a truck to drive it around and see if you like it isn't a very good reason IMHO, but to each there own! You do realize there's a lot more to makeing a liveing as a driver than what you would learn in a cdl school?
I also wonder why you would want to lay out that kind of money for a truck when that truck has a shelf life of 5 years with most company's. That clocks ticking even when that things sitting in your driveway.
Better to spend $4000 to get your cdl and then get a job with a training company (your cdl has a shelf life too!)that way if you don't like it your only out the $4 grand instead of the 10 grand you mentioned.
Remember trucking company's have a HUGE turnover rate, a lot of them drop out and never return.

[GMAN]

I don't know how insurance companies would look at someone driving a semi around town. That is something you would need to check. If you could get by with bobtail insurance it may only cost about $40-70/month. If you are required to get liability like the rest of us you could be talking about several thousand dollars. Then there is the baseplate. I don't know if there is a tag you could buy for a class 8 truck for personal use, since this type of equipment is designed strictly for commercial use. But, it is something else you want to check.

You will need a CDL to drive the truck. As far as parking, most trucks have a wheelbase of about 230"-250" so your 28' RV parking spot should be sufficient to park the tractor. You will probably need a trailer to take your road test for the CDL.

[geeshock]

I know someone that would go to pickup those rental trucks for ryder, i think he needed a class b licence, if it's not a combo, truck and trlr combined, you might be able to get by with a class b cdl

[Windwalker]

Don't know where you're from, TIm, but here in FL, it is possible to buy a tractor and use it for a personal vehicle. Not very practicle, though, because many of the places you might go with a personal vehicle also have electrical wires hanging a bit low. Start tearing down overhead lines and the cost of the truck, itself, won't be much of an issue. But, my son-in-law used the same loophole for his hotshot. Since he only has one eye, he can not get a CDL. As the owner of the rig, he can get away without it. He still needed a physical and medical card (with a waiver for his eye). With a semi-tractor, you do run into a sticky situation with the air brakes and the endorsement.

I have seen a guy build a one-ton pickup into a semi tractor "look-alike". It was physically smaller, but looked just like a long-nose Pete. One of the "drive" axles was actually a dummy, and it had hydraulic brakes. But, hood, cab, sleeper, fifth-wheel and all, it looked like a Pete. If you want a tractor, that might be an option.

If you're looking into driving commercially in the future, start with the CDL. That way, you have it covered. But, when you're driving the tractor around as a personal vehicle, keep the height of the exhaust stacks in mind. I've seen overhead wires get taken down, and it's not nice. Especially, the aftermath of having torn any down. I've seen tractor and trailer damaged because instead of the wire or anchor breaking, the pole broke and was pulled into the rig. Nearly $10 K damages to the rig.

[GMAN]

Parking may also be an issue since a tractor won't fit in a single parking space. You will need to be more careful where you park. If you go to a mall you may want to park further away from the mall in order to keep from blocking anyone in or having someone block you in.

[geeshock]

yup, i usualy park all the way in the back or along the perimeter