MCSAW Questions and Answers

Yes, all trucks traveling along state maintained highways are expected to stop at every Weigh Station and Agricultural Inspection Station along the way to their destination. If you're pulling a rental trailer with your personal vehicle, the combined weight of your personal vehicle and the commercial rental trailer can not exceed 10,000lbs, if so, you would be expected to enter the scale facilities in Florida.

This is the only way we can ensure our roads are not being damaged. Nine times out of ten, travelers won't even have to stop once they enter the facility and if they do it typically last less than a few minutes.

Vacancies with the Department, such as a Weigh Station Inspector, can be found through the State of Florida's People First employment system. You can search by location/occupation and the salary is disclosed in most cases: https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/

A. Yes.

A. Yes, they're open 24/7.

A. The Florida Highway Patrol issues and enforces Motor Carrier numbers in Florida. Here is the link to their website: https://www.flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/specialized-areas/commercial-vehicle-enforcement/.
They can also be reached via phone at: (850) 617-2284 or via email: fhp@flhsmv.gov.

A. Florida State Statute 316.515 (3) covers the number of trailers and length of trailers allowed in Florida. This section allows commercial vehicles to have two trailing units but non-commercial units can have only one trailing unit. Your pickup truck pulling your travel trailer AND golf cart trailer would be illegal:

(3) LENGTH LIMITATION.-Except as otherwise provided in this section, length limitations apply solely to a semitrailer or trailer, and not to a truck tractor or to the overall length of a combination of vehicles. No combination of commercial motor vehicles coupled together and operating on the public roads may consist of more than one truck tractor and two trailing units. Unless otherwise specifically provided for in this section, a combination of vehicles not qualifying as commercial motor vehicles may consist of no more than two units coupled together; such non-qualifying combination of vehicles may not exceed a total length of 65 feet, inclusive of the load carried thereon, but exclusive of safety and energy conservation devices approved by the department for use on vehicles using public roads.

A. We have pay phones at some locations and others we do not. With the popularity of cell phones, payphones are being phased out. The local phone company provides the phones, required maintenance and receive all the profits generated. The phone companies will not support any pay phone that does not have a monthly average intake of at least $35.00 unless the phone is mandated by law, State Fire Marshall or building code.

A. The Permit Office in Tallahassee, with the assistance of the Office of Maintenance, is responsible for overweight and over-dimensional permits. Please contact: Florida Permit Office (850) 410-5777 or visit their website: http://www.fdot.gov/maintenance/OWODPermits.shtm

A. You may contact the Florida Highway Patrol: https://www.flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/specialized-areas/commercial-vehicle-enforcement/.
They can also be reached via phone at: (850) 617-2284 or via email: fhp@flhsmv.gov. You can also contact the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA):
https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/ for information on transporting hazardous material.

A. Visit the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website: https://www.fhpcvepayments.com/ and enter your Citation Number and/or USDOT Number. You can also call their auto-pay hotline: (800) 688-5479 or you can call the actual penalty collections unit: (850) 617-3010. No, except for compliance reviews, all citations must be paid before the Commercial Motor Vehicle Review Board will hear a protest.

A. Visit the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website: http://www.flhsmv.gov/.

A. Please refer to Florida State Statute 316.515: http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2019/316.515 for the height requirements.

A. Escort Training information can be found at the following website: Florida Transportation Technology Transfer Center. No, the National Safety Council defensive driving course is only required to be taken one time. Along with the class E license and the defensive driving class, escort drivers must attend an eight hour pilot/escort flagging course and be re-qualified every four years by completing a four hour refresher course. The penalty issued to the carrier would be $100.00, not $250.00 for a disqualified or missing escort. The escort would have to be registered or another escort would be needed before the vehicle could continue.

A. Commercial carriers can purchase temporary IRP permits at dedicated Weigh Stations, called Ports of Entry, without being penalized. As per F.S. 316.003(60) the following routes and locations are hereby defined as Port of Entry locations:

1.)	I-10: From the Alabama / Florida state line eastbound to the Pensacola Weigh Station (Mile Marker 4).
2.)	I-75: From the Georgia / Florida state line southbound to the White Springs Weigh Station (Mile Marker 450).
3.)	I-95: From the Georgia / Florida state line southbound to the Yulee Weigh Station (Mile Marker 376).

Temporary IRP/IFTA permits can be purchased at any of the three Weigh Stations listed above by contacting one of the approved wire service companies. Any commercial vehicle operating beyond these limits without the appropriate permits can be issued civil fines pursuant to F.S. 316.545. At all other entry points carriers must have the appropriate permits before entering into the state. (Note: All overdimensional and overweight permits must be obtained before entering the state of Florida per F.S. 316.550.)

A. According to Florida State Statute 316.515(3) (a), unless it is for agriculture, a straight truck may tow no more than one trailer.

A. Florida State Statute 316.515(3) (b) 2a states the distance between the kingpin or other peg that locks into the fifth wheel of a truck tractor and the center of the rear axle or rear group of axles does not exceed 41 feet. Since there is not a definition of rear group of axles the definition of tandem axle in Florida State Statute 316.003(86) is used, which states any two axles whose centers are more than 40 inches but not more than 96 inches apart and are individually attached to or articulated from, or both, a common attachment to the vehicle, including a connecting mechanism designed to equalize the load between axles. If the split axles are more than 96 inches apart and there is no connecting mechanism, then this is not a rear group but two single axles, therefore the measurement would be taken from the kingpin to the center of the rear axle.

A. Divisible load permits, (10% permit) are allowed for commercial vehicles that do not exceed the statutory weight limits plus 10%. These permits are only valid off the interstate highway system and on designed routes. No, Florida State Statute 316.550(4) authorizes the permit for vehicle not exceeding the limits of Florida State Statute 316.535(5), tire size vehicles are described in Florida State Statute 316.535(6). No, according to the DOT Permits Office, 10% permits are not valid on the interstate.

A. Yes, a good rule of thumb is, if raising the bed is the means of offloading the load being carried, then it would be considered a dump truck (tire size vehicle). Yes, if the commodity being transported is considered waste, then it would fall under Florida State Statute 316.535(6). No, this vehicle would be a table 1 or a table 2 which ever allows the most weight. The raising of the bed allows for the vehicles to be winched on and off not to be dumped.

A. Yes, Florida State Statute 316.515(7) does not limit the type of vehicle used.

A. There is no width limit for these vehicles as long as they are moving during daytime hours, not on the interstate and not over 50 miles from property owned or leased by the equipment owner. There are some safety requirements such as lights and signs.

A. Yes, the permit office may issue a 57 foot 6 inch permit for semitrailers without overhang.

A. No, like a truck tractor semi-trailer combinations the trailer may be 57 feet inclusive of the load if the king pin setting is 41 feet or less AND has rear under-ride protection. If the combination is transporting vehicles it would also fall under the exception and the 50 foot limitation may also apply.

A. According to Florida State Statute 316.515(7) (e) when operating in the daytime, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, when the load does not extend past the rearmost part of the vehicle more than one-half the length of the permanent bed or cargo-carrying structure, when the load complies with subsection (4) (which gives 3 feet overhang on the front) and when proper flags are displayed. If the cargo-carrying structure is the total length of the truck the non-divisible load may extend 20 feet past the rear and 3 feet over the front past the bumper for a total length of 63 feet.

A. Yes, even though the null and void criteria of 14-26 does not specifically cite this, it is considered the same as not having the required number of axles and therefore the permit would be voided for weight only.

A. There is no maximum length for the trailer, the combination cannot exceed 68 feet. Therefore, if the truck is 18 feet, the trailer could be 50 feet.

A. No, the king pin measurement only applies to semi-trailers in a truck tractor semi-trailer combination.