Sorry this is going to be a little long winded. Ok, instead of monopolizing the Shout Box with Mike and my conversation about trailers and weight ratings I figured I would start a thread. So a little background on my question if people actually read the manual and follow the vehicle weight rating because they are obviously there for a reason. I have been trailer shopping for a little over a year now and I am going buy a trailer only once unlike the mistake I made buying too small a tractor. I have been looking mainly at Gooseneck Trailers because of capacity, stability, and the fact they just tow better than a tag along. A little about what I do for a living part of my job is vehicle purchase, outfitting, and maintenance of all of our equipment at work. I make it a point that while we may not have the nicest fleet running down the road I practice making it one of the safest so I have to know what the weights are and what we can fit on truck and not paint a target on our back with the DOT. I also have a Class B CDL so even though this is for personal use I'd like to think I hold my self to a higher standard especially since my last name is on the Stationary at work and I know too many of the State Police to give them a BS excuse that I didn't know. Ok, that enough rambling.
I have always had an idea of what my truck weighed but I needed the actual number so I weighed it yesterday since I'm getting pretty close to spending the money on ordering the trailer I want. My truck with me, full tank of fuel, and 100 gallons of Diesel in the transfer tank in the bed weighs a whopping 9900 pounds. With lowest GVW Gooseneck that Diamond C makes at 15500 it puts me at 25400 pounds which is 1900 pounds over the gross combined for my truck. I was also looking at the 25900 GVW rated trailer which put my gross combined weight at 35800 pounds a massive 12300 pounds over weight and that's squarely in Class A CDL territory no matter how you look at it. I see guys dragging these trailers up and down the highway all the time and now that I know what they actually weigh combined with a full load it's a little concerning.
Do people actually read the manual and pay attention the ratings or do they just not care? I really don't need to get into a accident because someone couldn't pull their nose out of their cell phone for 15 seconds at an intersection. Because I have a sneaking suspicion any accident lawyer worth their fee will crucify me when they find out I have a CDL even if my truck and trailer are used for personal use.
Am I overthinking this and making it more complicated than it should be?