stacker trailer

We have traveled from Florida to Maine to Utah. We almost always pull our trailer. We currently have a 45' bus and pull a triple axle featherlite. Our combined length is 73'. We have never been pulled over or even looked at regarding this issue. We sometimes overnight in Pilot or Flying J. Have you noticed the current crop of 18 wheelers ? Most are 75 to 80' long. We have never been in California with our bus and probably never will. The various experts and authorities we have spoken to regarding this say the length rules apply to state roads and not interstate. Don't know if this helps you any, but just our experience. We even had a state trooper in New Mexico stop once to offer help with a blowout...not a single comment about our 73' length.

Thanks for the feedback and website. After looking at website...it appears we're illegal but according to others apparently law enforcement overlooks it. Now what do i do with my 50 caliber rifle? lol

I appreciate the info..... thanks, the whole "trucking" situation is confusing.

Maryland is (not) arguably the toughest on length, width, and LP/propane.

We have a 24-foot stacker trailer that we have towed with the bus throughout the Southeast with no problems. We also tow a 32-foot stacker with a 44-foot Haulmark and have never been stopped.
Bonnie

I have one toad that puts me overlength, and one that keeps me at 65'. Like George I have never been bothered, but have spoken to several Prevost owners that have been ticketed. The thing consistent with those that have been ticketed is they did something to draw attention to themselves such as speeding. One owner I spoke to got a substantial fine in SD, a state that we know will cut recreational vehicles a substantial amount of slack. When we had the rally in Spearfish the state police weighed our coaches and then met with us afterward. They were very much aware of how many tourist dollars flow into the state and knew that RVs are to be below their radar. The Prevost owner I spoke to admitted he was speeding and maybe the overlength fine was actually a blessing because he probably did not get points.

With the exception of CA I suspect almost every state will look the other way at overlength rigs unless the Prevost driver is speeding, tailgating, or otherwise doing something a cop might find objectionable. Weight is another issue. For many years Ohio has been keeping coaches that exceed the Ohio axle weight limits off the Ohio Turnpike for example. They apparently have sensors in the ground and if the coach exceeds their limits it is denied access. I am not aware of any fines as a result however.

North Carolina has a new general statute 20-116 that states that a motor vehicle with a living quarters pulling a trailer that is involved with motor sports can be 90 feet long.The combination can be traveling to or from a race or for service or for any other reason that is related to the sport.

First off, hello everyone, this is my first post to the forum and I am also a VERY new owner of an '08 H3-45 Vantare. I also am a complete novice driver of the coach and am pulling a stacker which makes the overall rig 75 ft long (sometimes I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew). We were in a traffic jam in Tennessee just recently and got pulled over along with a trucker next to us. We were told that we were going too slow if you can believe that! Anyway no ticket in the end just a warning and nothing was ever mentioned about the overall length being 75 feet. The issue that I have had dragging the stacker is backing. I have had incidents where calling a head about room in RV parks have proven to be useless as the operators say that they have the room and they actually do not. In the case of one who has as little experience as me, getting the rig into the spot requires a lot of effort. Having said all that my coach has busair so that eliminates a bay and half for storage. It is nice to have a vehicle that I can get around easily with when I arrive at a destination. Long story short the benefits of the trailer outweigh the tribulations. Cheers everyone

Jim - welcome to POG and congratulations on your new Prevost! We have a '96 XLV Vantare and we love it! As a new Prevost owner, you've done a very smart thing by joining POG! two years ago, I was sort of in your shoes (had been driving buses for almost 30 years, but Eagles & MCI's, not Prevosts). POG has proved invaluable as a resource for knowledge, assistance, comraderie, and plain old fun! Be sure to create a signature on your profile for your posts that gives the particulars of your coach (conversion year, converter, model, tow vehicle, etc) and anything else you want. An avatar and a picture of your bus would be nice. The more info you put in your sig, the more specific responses you'll get relative to any questions you may ask. Also, the more you tell us - the less we'll make up! :p

Dog,

I got to admit I admire your guts on being a novice driver of big rigs and jumping up to an H3 with a trailer.

The easiest way to learn how to back a trailer is to go out and do it. Find an empty parking lot and just practice. If you want a tip that eliminates going through the long process of digesting information in your mirrors and converting that into steering wheel motion just try this.

Place your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. Which ever way you want the trailer to go when backing is the way you push your hand. Lets say you are just backing in a straight line. If the trailer starts to show up in the LH mirror, you know you want it to move to the right, so push the bottom of the steering wheel to the right. If you want the trailer to go back to the left, push the bottom of the steering wheel to the left.

There are far too many things to learn about backing, but unless you can autiomatically move the trailer left or right without thinking (by using tricks such as described above) everything else is going to be brain overload. You just need to practice. Experienced drivers also learn to think waaaaaay ahead. If you bring a car driver's mentality to the driver's seat you are already in trouble. You have to be thinking far ahead and setting yourself up to make turns and to avoid certain backing conditions. Watch an experieced local truck driver and you will see he tries to always back into a spot with the turn of the trailer to the driver's side. Rarely will a driver try to back on his blind side.

Take things slow, make sure you have walked around the area you are backing so you avoid the low things (like big decorative rocks) that will keep your favorite body shop in work, and most importantly, use your mirrors. Don't hang your head out the window because it means you have no clue what is happening on the other side and that will bite you at some point. Try not to rely on people with walkie talkiies or campground personell. They just tend to confuse the issue and at some point you need to learn how to do this by yourself, without any help, or seriously consider just towing a toad, four wheels down.