Newb starting 4-month Class A tour- a few questions

[Doonby]

Greetings!  After looking around these forums I know I came to right place to get some advice.  I am working on a publicity campaign for a film out of California and one of our strategies is to take to the road to have movie screenings across the country.  We are getting a 38' 2003 Alfa See Ya wrapped in our publicity photos from the movie and hitting the road in April for a trial run up to the Pacific NW before heading east to Florida hitting all the southern states along the way. Plan right now is to tow a small (6x8) enclosed trailer with two motorcycles for getting around cities. I have a few questions below that maybe some of you experts can help me with. Thanks!

-Do we need a special license? Seeing as the purpose of our trip is, technically, commercial in nature.
-RV has been sitting for awhile- any mechanical problems to be on the lookout for?
-General advice on driving, maintaining, enjoying the trip is greatly appreciated.  We hopefully will get our hands on the RV this week to play with and I'll have some more specific questions then.

Thanks!

 

[Orick]

Welcome to the forum.  This sounds like a fun project you're setting out on.

I would think before setting out cross country you'd want to have the coach serviced and inspected by a knowledgable shop and check the date code on the tires.  It might still have the original tires on it and that could be a problem since RV tires should be replaced somewhere around 6 or 7 years.  Those who have experienced a blowout on a big rig always tell the tale with eyes the size of dinner plates.

As for the trip... be sure you don't plan on covering the same kind of distances each day you would in a car.  About 300 miles or so per day is pretty common in a coach.  Don't try to drive it 75 mph.... 62 is much more appropriate.

If you're drivers license is from California you shouldn't need any special license.  You're not really using the coach as a "commercial" vehicle and I think if you're under 40 feet long (coach only) you don't need anything more that a class C license.

Have fun and keep us posted.

Rick

 

[Doonby]

Thanks Rick.  Definitely looking forward to getting out of the office and onto the road.

I'm trying to remember the mileage on the coach- I want to say 30000, but I could off.  Either way, we will be getting it looked over in a shop.  That's good advice about the daily mileage- I don't think we have too many days of really long hauls, a couple days of 450+ but those are the exception not the rule.  The big relief is the license issue.  I have been looking everywhere trying to find reliable information and only seem to get conflicting information. Doesn't seem like a good time to live by the "easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission" rule when a $70k RV is in the discussion.

We will be running a blog and twitter page with regular updates and I will be sure to link to those when we are up and running.  We will be looking for eating spots/camping locations/and local watering holes all the time so the experience of this crowd is so helpful!

 

[lyndatravels]

Although it seems most of your questions are technical in nature and you've already goten some good advice... here's a site I recently bookmarked that you may be interested to check out: an RV travel planning service -- .www.rvtravelconcierge.com I can't vouch for them personally, I haven't conracted their services, but I'm contemplating it for future RV trips

 

[Water Dog]

Just want to second checking the tires Doonby. I'm one of the ones that had dinner plate sized eyes (that Rick mentioned) as I was trying to keep ours on the highway after a blow out. The tires on ours looked good. Be sure and check out the library for how to read the DOT date codes on the tires so you know when they were manufactured.

Have a great time on your trip.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Doonby,

Let me put my ex-cop hat on for just a moment....

Be sure that the state in which the vehicle is licensed and insured, and the state from which you hold driving priveleges are both in agreement that what you are proposing is not "commercial", especially the insurance.

Normally, the states grant reciprocity for your vehicle licensing and driver's license, when they match. Example: in Arkansas, my motorhome can be driven with a simple Class C license, and I can drive in any state in the country legally; in Texas, I have to have a Class B, Non Commercial license, and have to take a written and practical driving test to have the correct license now that I am a resident of Texas.

Then there's the towing restrictions (like brakes, weight, etc) which vary by state and can change the whole thing.

What you do NOT want to get into is a situation where your insurance excludes coverage in an accident because you were improperly registered, licensed, towing, or insured.

If you are legal in California, you should be good to go....

What you are doing sounds like a great experience - just make sure you dot the i's and cross the t's - you do NOT want Bubba rolling his eyes in a small town and sayin' "yore in a heap a trouble, boy!".... 8)

If I had not just spent two days with the Texas DMV making sure I was "according to Hoyle", this might be a different answer!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Kim

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You are in a gray area as far as "commercial". If you are getting compensation for driving this rig around for advertising purposes, my guess is that it would be viewed as a Commercial truck and you a Commercial driver, both of which have implications for your driving license and the vehicle insurance.  Probably nobody would notice, but if something went wrong and you came under scrutiny, it could get awkward!

 

[Wendy]

You may encounter problems if you try to stay on federal and/or state lands with your advertising motorhome. Something to check on.

Wendy

 

[Pierat]

If it were me, I'd get a written opinion from a knowledgeable lawyer before setting out with noncommercial insurance, license, etc.

Wendy, that's interesting about the advertising motorhome. So, they can exclude advertising in public campgrounds run by the government?

 

[Wendy]

Wendy, that's interesting about the advertising motorhome. So, they can exclude advertising in public campgrounds run by the government?

You betcha. Several forumites have had problems from the BLM rangers in Quartzsite for having small signs on their toads and here we're talking about a whole wrapped motorhome. You need a special use permit for that kind of advertising on federal lands.

Wendy

 

[Orick]

Wow.  Interesting points on the advertising wraps and how it might impact license and insurance requirements.  In our travels, we have seen countless coaches/RVs with "adverstising" on them... usually a link to where to buy the owners book or join their blog.  I guess it's a matter of who decides to push what issue... under what circumstances.... and in which location, but it seems like two sides of the same coin IMO.

Rick

 

[Lou Schneider]

It's not the advertising wrap (except for camping on federal land) - it's whether or not you are being paid to drive the motorhome.  This is something you should ask a lawyer about - preferably before it becomes an issue on the road.  If you are being paid to drive, you can fall under the commercial driver rules and need to be licensed accordingly.

If the motorhome is being used for commercial purposes (as opposed to recreational purposes) it needs commercial insurance.

 

[Tom]

Just curious - are the Cruise America rental RVs (with large graphics and their ads prominently displayed) also prohibited on federal lands?

 

[Wendy]

Just curious - are the Cruise America rental RVs (with large graphics and their ads prominently displayed) also prohibited on federal lands?

Hmm, never thought about those. I'd guess that they fit more into having a brand on the coach, like Winnebago or Monaco? And it's not the driver advertising and making money so perhaps that's a difference? I do know that the BLM rangers were a bit hard-assed a couple of years ago at Quartzsite over DryWash and solar signs on cars and even the Forum balloon. You do have to have a special use permit for commercial activities on federal lands but a lot probably depends on the mood and personality of the ranger. A large advertisement-wrapped motorhome would likely get any ranger's attention, tho.

Wendy

 

[Tom]

I can understand not allowing commercial activities to be conducted without a permit. But if, for example, someone is driving their company pickup truck with a painted-on company name, and the driver had no intent to do any business while RVing, would the rangers object to that? The typical "company name" on company-owned pickups and cars are a lot less obtrusive than the full-width graphic and huge lettering on the Cruise America RVs.

IIRC the rangers at QZ even objected to the RV Forum rally balloon marker.

 

[Orick]

It's not the advertising wrap (except for camping on federal land) - it's whether or not you are being paid to drive the motorhome.  This is something you should ask a lawyer about - preferably before it becomes an issue on the road.  If you are being paid to drive, you can fall under the commercial driver rules and need to be licensed accordingly.

If the motorhome is being used for commercial purposes (as opposed to recreational purposes) it needs commercial insurance.

I wonder what Dominoe's does about all those kids paid to drive their cars to deliver pizzas?  Any lawyers out there going to weigh in on the topic?

Rick

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

I wonder what Dominoe's does about all those kids paid to drive their cars to deliver pizzas?  Any lawyers out there going to weigh in on the topic?

I don't know if it is so much a statutory issue (although may be for the license classification itself) but more of a policy exclusion issue. If I recall my insurance questionnaire, there is a place where they ask if the insured vehicle is being used as part of your employment. It's a sticky wicket, to be sure....and the more you tell about what you are doing, the more questions it invites.

 

[Doonby]

Thank you for all the responses- very helpful.

I'll offer a little clarification as I have a few more details now.  Apparently, we are going to be getting commercial insurance.  When I heard that, my heart sank knowing that we probably going to need to get licensed.

As far as advertising, I don't think we will be spending much time parked on Federal/State lands (sadly) but that is definitely something to keep in mind. This is probably going to be a Wally World/KOA trip.  Any experts out there know if there is a general federal permit application or is handled on a case-by-case basis?

Kim- your comment on Bubba rolling up and laying the smackdown on me had me chuckling at my desk.  Having had a few recent run-ins with the boys in blue lately regarding a disagreement over a safe driving speed for my motorcycle that left my wallet significantly lighter, I'm not eager to reprise that situation under any circumstance!  I'm going to keep digging and will get our lawyer to look into it as well. I mentioned this earlier, but we are planning on towing a trailer with out bikes so the issue is murky at best.

This forum is the greatest.

 

[Wendy]

As far as advertising, I don't think we will be spending much time parked on Federal/State lands (sadly) but that is definitely something to keep in mind. This is probably going to be a Wally World/KOA trip.  Any experts out there know if there is a general federal permit application or is handled on a case-by-case basis?

Pretty sure it's case-by-case, each park has their own rules and costs and wants their own piece of the pie.

Wendy

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

I decided that I, too, wanted to know a bit more, and went here for California, http://dmv.ca.gov/portal/home/dmv.htm

I have to admit that I might be even more confused, since the license classes seem to be more around weights and tows, and California actually seems to mirror the Texas laws (or vice versa). What is not clear is what defines "driving in interstate commerce".

I am going out on a limb and say that not ALL commerce conducted using a vehicle requires a commercial license, (but I bet it requires more insurance) but it's going to take a smarter man than I to interpret the code. I am sure the DMV can answer the question in a snap.

Have fun!