We got CARB'd today

[DonTom]

That's the worst we've encountered on Donner Pass

I always check the weather at Soda Springs as well as the CA Road Conditions for I-80 before going over the summit.

If I go by motorcycle, there have to be at least two clear days in a row and be above 40°F at the summit.

BTW, Hwy 50 is open more often than I-80, and less often has a chain requirement.

If it looks too bad, I won't go, and the same with many others. Best to wait it out.

I am surprised the bus will not cancel when a five-hour wait is possible.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Tom]

I am surprised the bus will not cancel when a five-hour wait is possible.

We (passengers) didn't have any advance warning, so maybe the bus driver didn't know or didn't check.

 

[Tom]

I always check the weather at Soda Springs as well as the CA Road Conditions for I-80 before going over the summit.

For some years, we've consciously avoided I-80 in the winter. When we were driving to the MidWest twice a year, we'd take I-40 from Barstow in the winter and I-80 from Sacramento in the summer. Since both doggies are no longer with us, we fly to our place in the MidWest, and still drive I-80 to/from Wyoming for the summer..

 

[DonTom]

Since both doggies are no longer with us

I find doggies to be a major inconvenience for many reasons, but Tom & I always had two doggies (his idea) .

It is even more of an inconvenience when single.

But I do enjoy doggies, as long as they belong to somebody else!

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Lou Schneider]

I got stuck on a tour bus for 8 hours once in Nova Scotia. It wasn't because of weather, rather a construction truck spilled a barrel of roofing nails along about a mile of the roadway. The bus got a flat tire and authorities wouldn't let the tow truck or any other traffic come through until all of the nails were swept up.

My wife was a nurse and she went up to a diabetic friend on the bus and asked if she was feeling all right. She replied she was fine. Cindy said are you sure, isn't your blood sugar dropping and you need food right away? The friend laughed and the tour guide relayed that message to the authorities. The tow truck was let through, changed the tire and we were quickly on our way.

 

[BrokeDude]

A prior thread discussed the subject of new California CARB (California Air Resources Board) requirements for OTR diesel vehicles.

We received a letter informing us that our DP coach, being over 14,000lbs GVW, needed to be registered with CARB and a fee paid. I went ahead and did this and, because of timing, our coach was considered in compliance until Feb, 2025. Meanwhile, my searches, including on the CARB web site, couldn't find a CARB testing station within several hundred miles.

A month or so ago a friend in the same predicament gave me a heads-up to a local CARB testing station, just a couple of miles from here, and a mile or so from where we store the coach.

I started getting CARB notices that the coach needed to be tested, and meanwhile was considered non-compliant. I tried calling CARB to get some relief on the deadline due to my protracted lack of mobility after knee replacement; I received an automated mesage saying "Your call is really important to us; There are 44 callers in line ahead of you".

We finally got the coach tested today, albeit after the deadline, and it passed with flying colors. The first hurdle was the need to find the Cummins emissions tag. The test guy needed access to the top of the engine, which I provided via the floor hatches in the bedroom and closet. No luck, so he crawled under the coach, and again no luck, then accessed the engine via the rear engine bay doors. After some poking and prodding he found the tag on the front/topside of the engine, hidden beneath a wire harness. A snip of some wire ties and the harness could be moved far enough to view, clean and photograph the tag. Without this, it was an automatic fail.

The guy suggested we leave the coach for him to run the tests. He called me a couple of hours later to let me know he was done.

Next was filing the test results; Unlike the CA smog testing for gas vehicles that sends test results real-time to the DMV, CARB test results have to be printed, scanned, and emailed by the testing facility. So, until a human receives and reads the results, our coach is still "non-compliant" in their database (I just checked).

Test and filing costs $309, paid up front, more than 3X what I pay for smog testing on our gas vehicles.

I’m a California resident but we have a home in Arizona…I’m definitely registering my new coach in AZ

 

[DonTom]

I’m a California resident but we have a home in Arizona…I’m definitely registering my new coach in AZ

I only register my EVs in CA. But here in NV ICE vehicles must pass a smog test every year except for the first two years on new vehicles.

Only two counties in NV require smog checks. Clark (Las Vegas area) and Washoe (Reno area).

I should have bought my NV house in Lockwood, NV, 12 miles to the east in Storey County.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

I’m a California resident but we have a home in Arizona…I’m definitely registering my new coach in AZ

Or to make it simple, move there.

 

[DonTom]

Or to make it simple, move there.

It is just as simple when having a legitimate address in another state. You need to go to the DMV in the other state either way.

The way I have been doing it is to keep whatever plate is on the vehicle for the state I buy it in, but I do not buy ICE vehicles in CA. For now, it would save me some road tax if I had NV plates on all my EVs, including motorcycles. But I assume it is coming to NV soon anyway.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Blueskysmog]

A prior thread discussed the subject of new California CARB (California Air Resources Board) requirements for OTR diesel vehicles.

We received a letter informing us that our DP coach, being over 14,000lbs GVW, needed to be registered with CARB and a fee paid. I went ahead and did this and, because of timing, our coach was considered in compliance until Feb, 2025. Meanwhile, my searches, including on the CARB web site, couldn't find a CARB testing station within several hundred miles.

A month or so ago a friend in the same predicament gave me a heads-up to a local CARB testing station, just a couple of miles from here, and a mile or so from where we store the coach.

I started getting CARB notices that the coach needed to be tested, and meanwhile was considered non-compliant. I tried calling CARB to get some relief on the deadline due to my protracted lack of mobility after knee replacement; I received an automated mesage saying "Your call is really important to us; There are 44 callers in line ahead of you".

We finally got the coach tested today, albeit after the deadline, and it passed with flying colors. The first hurdle was the need to find the Cummins emissions tag. The test guy needed access to the top of the engine, which I provided via the floor hatches in the bedroom and closet. No luck, so he crawled under the coach, and again no luck, then accessed the engine via the rear engine bay doors. After some poking and prodding he found the tag on the front/topside of the engine, hidden beneath a wire harness. A snip of some wire ties and the harness could be moved far enough to view, clean and photograph the tag. Without this, it was an automatic fail.

The guy suggested we leave the coach for him to run the tests. He called me a couple of hours later to let me know he was done.

Next was filing the test results; Unlike the CA smog testing for gas vehicles that sends test results real-time to the DMV, CARB test results have to be printed, scanned, and emailed by the testing facility. So, until a human receives and reads the results, our coach is still "non-compliant" in their database (I just checked).

Test and filing costs $309, paid up front, more than 3X what I pay for smog testing on our gas vehicles.

This has changed a bit. You tech was wrong even then saying every 6 months. All rvs are only once a year. The rv box should've been checked when you registered the coach on ctc. If it say every 6 months on there its because that box wasn't checked. It can be changed by going back to your ctc and editing the vehicle. Im a mobile tester as well and im pretty knowledgeable about almost all the regulatory crude. Dm me or give me a call if you have any questions 661-241-8076.

 

[Blueskysmog]

I read within the last few days that the testing frequency for motorhomes is annual. I can't find it right now, but it was either on a CARB document/email or on their web site.

You are correct im a tester. CARB doesn't know/care its a motorhome unless you check the box for it. If you miss the box it automatically defaults to the 6 month test.

 

[Blueskysmog]

Fortunately good sense prevailed and the requirement for the results to be delivered on horseback was rescinded.

Thank God for that too. It took way to long for them to respond to the manual tests. I now submit it online and it basicly instantly goes to CARB and the the owners ctc account.

 

[Tom]

You are correct im a tester. CARB doesn't know/care its a motorhome unless you check the box for it. If you miss the box it automatically defaults to the 6 month test.

CARB let me know that I'd failed to check the box. I subsequently checked it, and my testing frequency was changed to 12 months.

 

[Blueskysmog]

CARB let me know that I'd failed to check the box. I subsequently checked it, and my testing frequency was changed to 12 months.

Yes its very easy to fix it. The only exception to that is a vehicle that was converted to an rv. Like the 1976 fire truck I did last month. Lol