It’s a notice you see on trucks sometimes, generally under the side cab window.
I know what it means: The truck is used to haul the owner’s stuff and won’t be hauling yours anytime soon. The question – actually two of them – is why is it needed? Is it common for a truck driver to be approached, “Say, I got a load of bananas I got to get to Scranton. Can you help me?”
And the second, why is it not more frequently seen? Do some states require it and not others? Is there any connection between it and the DOT number for trucks above 10,000 pounds GVWR?
Because most trucks are for hire? The vast majority of truck tractors are contractors that haul for a variety of clients. The trailer may have the name of a large retailer or manufacturer on it, but the cab, more often than not, doesn’t.
Right. Independent owner/operators will have something on the cab, but while the trailer may say the name of a national brand, the cab will say something like “R.D. Trucking, Albuquerque N.M.” The national brand has hired the independent trucker to haul its trailer between two places.
They are trying to make it clear to any regulatory authority (e.g. law enforcement, weigh station officials, and Department of Transportation authorities) that they are exempt from some of the state and federal DOT regulations. Examples include lacking standard commercial markings, such as a carrier name or specific interstate licensing numbers.
I guess you said normal “passenger vehicle” and maybe didn’t necessarily mean to include normal pickup trucks in that class, but in Nebraska when I was growing up (and up to present day for all I know) “not for hire” was stamped right on the license plate. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if other states did something similar. These guys generally weren’t sovcits.
