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Does anyone know if you can have two children, ages 5 and 10 in your truck. I want to take them on the road. I want to buy the large 120in condo and hire out. My wife will be getting her CDL and we home school.
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It's legal if:
They are listed as Authorized Passengers, on a notorized letter from whoever holds the Authority. The letter must state the start and end date of the trip, and contain the information that the passenger is covered by the required insurance. (accident & medical) A trip for a minor is 30 days or less. Positive (Picture ID) is required.
AND
There must be a SEAT with a DOT approved restraint system appropriate to the size and age of each passenger. Bunk restraints DO NOT COUNT. The child restraint and seat belt laws DO APPLY to commercial vehicles. In fact, they are much stricter.
When a co-driver isn't driving they may (or may not) be classified as a passenger. This is a gray area in the regs and laws. (They conflict.)
So to be truly legal you need to add 2 forward facing seats with DOT approved restraint systems, installed to DOT specs, by a qualified installer. (Just bolting a seat to the cab floor DOES NOT COUNT, expect to have to prove the legality of the seats.) I don't think any manufacturer builds an off the line truck with the framing for a 2nd pair of seats, with shoulder belts. The only legal 3rd seat I've ever seen was in a custom sleeper, and the owner said it took close to a year to get the DOT approvals to have the sleeper built. He came in with an inch thick paperwork file to prove it, too. And even then, it was a b*tch to get insurance. And expensive...very, very expensive.
Since you are going to be one purchasing the insurance, start calling agents now.
The carrier can't authorize a passenger without insurance. It's not legal, and it sets them up for the lawsuit from hell. Which means it is the insurance company gets to set up any conditions they want, as long as they exceed the minimum required by law. And all you can do is try to find an insurance carrier with conditions you can live with.
That said, kids on a team truck is a BAD idea. The point of a team truck is that it's moving 22 hours a day. It's hard enough to have a single child with a solo driver, for any length of time. After the first few weeks or so, they hate the truck, they hate the food, they hate the road and they want to go home... With Daddy or Mommy if possible, but they are more than happy to volunteer to go home with the dispatchers, or the safety people, or the mechanics. We've all had offers, I could have had a dozen or so kids in the last year I worked in/around the office. It really should make you wonder just who else they volunteered to go home with...
Kids need to move, and play, and interact with people. None of which happens with a truck that is moving 22 hours a day.
Have you considered the basic logistics of the whole idea? You are driving, your wife is sleeping, and the kids are doing what? It's illegal (as well as extremely stupid) to be in the top bunk while the truck is moving. (that is why there are no restraints up there) So they are doing what? Watching videos, playing games? Picking fights? Can you sleep with the noise 4 feet away? In a moving truck? Can your wife? In 11 hours it's going to her turn to drive and your turn in the bunk. What are the kids doing then? When and where do they sleep? Have you ever shared a 32 inch bed with your 10 year old? What about potty breaks? What about your stuff? What about their toys, books, games? What's for dinner? Breakfast? Lunch?
