Glossary
GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)
GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) *** Manufacturer warranty rating
GTWR (Gross Trailer Weight Rating)
GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating)
GCVW (Gross Combined Vehicle Weight)

As a retired truck driver (1992), and now fulltiming in a fifth wheel, the letters regarding weights in your Sept./ Oct. issue really got my dander up. I always gave RV's and rental trucks a wide berth, and for good reason.
First of all, I always thought RV sales personnel were guilty of telling customers anything they want to hear just to make the sale. But after reading Ernie Hamm's letter it's obvious there is a lack of information thoughout the industry.
The idea that a law enforcement officer should turn a blind eye to overloaded vehicles is just ludicrous. Is Staff Sergeant Strickland on the RVDA's payroll?
If a truck is overloaded, it matters not if it's a camper or firewood, a load is a load, and anyone who thinks the manufacturer's GVWR is not important, well I don't want to be on the same road with them!!
To set the record straight:
The GVWR remains the same regardless of the optional equipment, i.e. motors, transmissions, trailer hitches, tool boxes, passengers, all of which affect the available payload, which can be increased by leaving the Owner's Manual at home. (It appears no one reads the section on loading.)
Trailer hitches also have maximum ratings which should not be exceeded.
Trailers also have GVW Ratings and axle ratings that should be respected.
Picture a wheelbarrow loaded with so many cement blocks that you can hardly pick it up, have a difficult time controlling the direction of travel, and then the wheel collapses. Not a pretty picture.
How to figure out truck and trailer weights? Easy. Load everything that is going to be taken (this includes the wife, kids, dog, etc.), fill up the fuel tank, water tank then go scale each axle. The sum of the steering and drive axle will give the truck weight. (Take note of the GVWR, have you exceeded it?) Now add on the trailer axle weight, this is your GCVW. (In BC you are allowed 150 kgs per one engine HP if your trailer has a utility plate.) Now's a good time to check that Owner's Manual to see if you have exceeded what the manufacturer will honour for warranty (GCWR).
Now drop the trailer, reweigh the truck, subtract this weight from the GCVW and you have the trailer weight. (Has the trailer GVWR been exceeded?) The trailer tongue weight is also findable, the difference between the tow vehicle weight with the trailer connected and disconnected.
So, now that we know our weights and have checked the tire, axle and vehicle maximum ratings, ensured the trailer is loaded so that 10 to 15% of the gross trailer weight is on the tongue, welcome to the public roadways and the province of BC.
By the way, the nice policeman was being very lenient when he let Al Richardson turn around and leave. He didn't do the rest of the motoring public any favours by allowing a overloaded truck and an indignant driver to leave the province without rectifying the violation.
Had this been a commercial vehicle in question, the driver would have been fined and the load reduced before continuing.
We won't even touch on the driver's qualifications to handle a large motorhome or tow a trailer. Just spend a day at your local RV park watching some of the hilarious attempts of our fellow campers attempting to park their "rigs"!
Boaters, hunters, snowmobilers, golfers to name a few, have information and safety courses available to enhance their sports, but someone having never driven anything bigger than a economy car can purchase a modified Freightliner, hook onto a 40 ft. trailer and, Ya Who, let the good times roll!
I know, I should shut up and do something about RV education myself, m-m-m-m, food for thought.
Thanks for letting me spout off.
Charles Hindes
Duncan BC
chindes@islandnet.com