On April 21, in the Warwick Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the N.C. Highway Patrol held their first ever public forum to explain the laws on towing boats and their manner of enforcing them.
The room was almost filled to capacity with approximately 300 concerned boaters. The attendance wasn’t just local either, many had driven in from all across the state.
The concerns which fostered this meeting began in the late summer of 2007, when several boaters were pulled and given tickets for large fines for illegally trailering their boats. Making the matter worse, the fines were classified as federal civil citations and the boaters were required to pay the fine before continuing on their way.
North Carolina Sportsman reviewed the ordinances in the January 2008 issue and also encountered confusing and conflicting responses to numerous questions. Meanwhile, within the Highway Patrol, they were meeting to decide on uniform enforcement of the laws and offered to hold the Wilmington forum to present the information to a large group of boaters before the boating and fishing season got into full swing.
There are several areas of issue here. The concerns are for boat (trailer) width, Boat (trailer) weight, full load (boat, trailer and tow vehicle) weight, towing vehicle license plates, drivers license categories and what constitutes using the boat and trailer in commercial enterprise.
Out of these specifics, one of the issues that concerns this writer the most is that this is somehow considered a coastal problem. Nothing could be farther from the truth! This issue affects anyone who plans to trailer a boat anywhere in N.C. That could be from Cary to Lake Jordan, Asheville to Lake Lure, or from Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro or Raleigh to the coast.
WIDTH
Under existing law, a boat (trailer) wider than 8 feet, 6 inches may only be towed during daylight hours Monday through Saturday on days that are not holidays or the day immediately before or after. If you want to use your pontoon boat on the lake on Sunday and it is wider than 8 feet, 6 inches, you must get it to the ramp and launch it on Saturday before dark and cannot take it home until Monday after daylight. This is even worse on holidays. On holidays the legal travel time for vehicles wider than 8 feet, 6 inches ends at noon the day before the holiday and does not begin again until noon on the day following the holiday. The width measurement is taken at the widest point on the boat or trailer and the upright guide posts used on many trailers are included.
WEIGHT
Some information North Carolina Sportsman had already reported was explained here, plus some information we didn’t find in our January research. Several numbers were mentioned concerning weight. The two easy ones are 3,000 pounds and 4, 000 pounds. At any capacity of 3,000 pounds or heavier, trailers registered in N.C. are required to have brakes. A top official from one trailer company said this was actually 4,000 pounds, but the Highway Patrol said 3,000 pounds at their meeting and that is the weight I would recommend meeting. At 4,000 pounds or heavier, trailers registered in N.C. are required to pass an annual safety inspection. A Highway Patrol spokesman said this could be done at the same business that does your annual vehicle safety and emissions inspection.
The next weight mentioned was 9,000 pounds. Trucks registered privately and without weighted category license tags may trailer a combined load (truck and trailer) of up to 9,000 pounds. Once they exceed this weight, they must purchase weighted tags of weight equal to or greater than the total load of truck and trailer.
10,000 pounds had several significances. This is the trailer weight above which a class A drivers license is required. It is also the weight Chris Hartley from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) explained determined a business venture if crossing state lines while towing to a tournament. Hartley also said any vehicle combination in excess of 10,000 pounds was required to pass through all weigh stations.
Another weight threshold is 26,000 pounds. Driving a tow vehicle heavier than 26,000 pounds requires a class B drivers license if the towed load is less than 10,000 pounds and a class A drivers license if the towed load is in excess of 10,000 pounds. This is also the weight that determined a business venture if towing to an in-state tournament.
LICENSE PLATES
As questioned in the January North Carolina Sportsman, it was explained at the meeting that SUV’s registered as passenger vehicles are exempt from weighted license tag requirements. Private pickup trucks, registered with a private license tag (the ones that say “First in Flight”) may trailer a combined total load (truck, trailer and boat) of up to 9,000 pounds. If the load is heavier than 9,000 pounds, a weighted license tag is required with enough capacity to cover the entire combined load of the truck trailer and load.
DRIVERS LICENSE
Most drivers will only require the standard class C drivers license, which is the same as required to drive any car. This license is accepted for towing loads of less than 10,000 pounds as long as the towing vehicle weighs less than 26,000 pounds. If the towing vehicle is heavier than 26,000 pounds and the towed load is less than 10,000 pounds, a class B drivers license is required. Regardless of the weight of the towing vehicle, if the towed load is heavier than 10,000 pounds a class A drivers license is required. To get a class A license, the applicant must pass a driving test with the trailer that will be towed.
Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL) are for drivers who are driving in a commercial enterprise. This involves the possibility of making a profit and the Highway Patrol and Mr. Hartley from the USDOT firmly believe that competing in a tournament should be considered a commercial enterprise. Remember that in the Weight Section above, there was a threshold of 26,000 pounds for being considered commercial when traveling in-state to tournaments and 10,000 pounds was the threshold when crossing state lines.
Another factor they use to determine commercial enterprise is the presence of corporate sponsor logos on the boat or tow vehicle. If a corporate sponsor’s logo is present and you are traveling to a tournament, this constitutes a commercial enterprise regardless of weight. The CDL provision can be added to whichever class of drivers license is appropriate.
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE
This is the topic that brought the most misunderstanding and has the greatest tendency for conflict. According to Hartley, the potential for making money is all that is required to constitute a commercial enterprise.
While I am not an expert on the IRS, the deductions they allow for tournament and gambling winnings are hobby deductions. These can only be for expenses up to the amount of the winnings. Unless tournament fishing is your primary income, the IRS classifies it as a hobby. Any losses attributed to hobbies cannot be used as a deduction from other income. The IRS allows for extra winnings—just ask any lottery winner. However, for anyone who holds a full-time job, tournament fishing is a hobby and by IRS guidelines expenses may only be deducted up to the amount of the winnings.
My question is simply, “Since the IRS already is the official federal agency for deciding business profit and/or loss and the North Carolina Department of Revenue is their state-level counterpart, why can’t we just let them do their jobs and let the Highway Patrol concentrate on enforcing highway regulations and preserving highway safety? I’m sure they could use their time better than to be standing on the side of the road arguing with a fisherman on whether he has a potential for profit or not.
GENERAL
After going through all this and hoping to keep everyone citation free, I must add there were several N.C. legislators at this meeting and when given the opportunity to speak, they promised to get these laws “Straightened out.” The legislators present included Representatives Bonner Stiller (R-Brunswick), Pat McElraft (R-Carteret), Carolyn Justice (R-Pender, New Hanover), Senator Julia Boseman (D-New Hanover) and Mary Ellen Simmons, from U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre’s (D-NC) office. The legislators were respectful of the Highway Patrol and said they weren’t criticizing them, but wanted to give them better laws to work with.
Representatives from several boat builders, boat dealers and local municipalities were present. While not allowed to speak during the meeting, Mayor Alan Holden, of Holden Beach, expressed concern for the potential loss of tourism revenue if folks were not allowed to easily bring their boat while on vacation. Representatives McElraft and Stiller echoed this concern.
“If we aren’t working for the tourists and out-of-town boaters, they will find somewhere else to go,” Stiller said. “We surely don’t need to be making it difficult for them.”
While not mentioned during the forum, several internet postings and letters circulated through the crowd. One letter, from William Gore, Jr., N.C. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, was mentioned by Representative Stiller. Stiller pointed out Gore’s initial career as a judge may have him particularly well suited to answer this question.
In this letter to Captain Nichols of the Highway Patrol, Gore stated, “Historically, the Division has considered boats and their trailers as recreational vehicles and will continue to do so until such time as the General Assembly changes the law to reflect that they are not recreational vehicles. Absent some indication of commercial purposes, when a consumer is paid some small purse during a fishing tournament, it is my opinion the primary purpose of the vessel and its related trailer is still recreational.”
It is urgent that everyone contact their senators and representatives and let them know they would like to see these laws changed. No one wants to compromise highway safety, but boats don’t appear to be an issue there. Our highways and vehicles are far superior to what they were when the current laws were adopted over 20 years ago. One highway patrolman stated he couldn’t ever remember investigating an accident caused by someone towing a boat.
The web site for viewing all N.C. legislative action and with contact information for all the senators and representatives, plus a listing of all the committees and all the members, is www.ncleg.net.
If this really is going to change and the new laws pass in the short legislative session, why do we have to wait until July for them to go into effect? If there is some reason they couldn’t be made effective immediately upon being signed by the governor, then the governor should issue an executive order declaring either a moratorium or amnesty on any violations that wouldn’t be under the new laws. Now that would be a show of good faith!
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