Birken: the pickup 'under 10k gvw' was the concept defacto promulgated by the CHP at the seminar. Because if it is other than a pickup, ergo utility body or flatbed etc, regardless of the GVWR it is subject to The Rules. Commercial Vehicle Rules, that is.
After the seminar we did a lot of door sticker searching and the typical 3/4 ton late model diesel pickup was at or under the 10k number and duallie pickups were well over that: in the 11k plus range.
Then we looked at this document from the California government called the Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual (you can get there by way of the DMV website). There are 30 chapters and some appendix but the chapter 13 is titled Commercial Vehicles Industry Registration Procedures and section 13.065 calls out:
Motor Trucks with two or more axles and a .... GVWR of more than 10k pounds .... are req'd tp obtain a motor carrier permit. **
Motor carriers do not include:
etc
Earlier in that chapter 13 section is the definition of a pickup truck. It defines what is not a pickup: although while it may indeed have the open type bed, it cant weight more than 8k nor have a GVWR over 11.5k GVWR. This definition is actually written in there twice: once what IS and once what IS NOT.
Here is a nice question: If the duallie pickup has a a gvwr of 11.2k GVWR such as my friend's 2wd dodge Cummin second generation, is he free of The Rule? The seminar only mentioned 10k GVWR not 11.5K GVWR as per the Chapter 13.
** Keep in mind the Motor Carrier Permit is the gateway to the BIT program, the fees are paid at the same time.
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For more confusion, back to the seminar: the Instructor said the CHP simply would not be counting pickup trucks BUT if the pickup had any type of trailer on it, then it would be an element or candidate for roadside inspection to verify compliance with these Safety Rules.
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This probably made it worse but if one goes accordingly of the seminar and the chapter 13 summary rules for the motor carrier, the seemingly safe number is 10k GVWR. But maybe if it was a pickup bed on a pickup truck that was 11.5k GVWR, perhaps the definition from the Chapter 13 would allow it w/o the MCP?
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A look at the CHP website continues to reflect the BIT program from 2016 and at the seminar that title was specifically revised to 'Carrier Inspection Fee'.
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This article from Western States Trucking Association shows the 10k GVWR number
https://westrk.org/basic-inspection-of-terminal-bit-program-update/