(Ontario) license type and CVOR guidelines

[Mei Jade]

Hi again with more questions! 

For anyone not in the know CVOR stands for '[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration'. A bit more information can be found here: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks/commercial-vehicle-faq.shtml#a15[/font][/SIZE]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I hope to build a camper van, and I'm leaning now towards the Ford Transit, Promaster and Chevy Express. The cargo vans, not the passengers. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I do intend on calling the Ministry of Transport, but I was also hoping for some actual experiences people have had, because sometimes what I am told I vastly misunderstand or misinterpret, or I'm given the run around[/font][font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]. I actually still would like to confirm licence classes. Licence I am not very concerned over, but as you can see, I'm pretty darn ignorant. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]My main hang is the classification of a typically commercial vehicle being registered as personal use. This is relevant because even if I were not stealth camping, I have relied on carpools for trips to the city, and commercial vehicles are not permitted to use carpools in Ontario. Being unable to use carpools will be a bit a determinant, because obviously a vehicle can't be left unattended in a random location for several days. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Any advice is appreciated. [/font]

 

[poncho62]

My pickup has commercial plates as did my cargo van I used to have. On both, I also had a sticker on the front plate that said used primarily for personal use. That is how we non commercial people get around the commercial plate thing. This sticker makes your van or pickup a regular passenger vehicle. I cant see the LEOs bothering you about this. 



As for your operators license, having a commercial vehicle does not mean that you have to have some sort of special license. It goes by how much weight you carry. My job consists of deliveries in a Ford E350 van. I am able to do it on my "G" license as I dont carry that much weight. 

Hope this helps a little

 

[Almost There]

My van has the same sticker  as Poncho 62.

When I went to register it I was simply asked if I was using it for commercial purposes or as a personal vehicle. Once we clarified that I was not running it for a business it was registered as a commercial vehicle used primarily for personal use...no commercial license required to drive it.

BTW, most of the carpool places I've seen don't allow one to park the vehicle for more than 24 hours anyways. And all the ones I've seen have had 'commercial vehicles' ie ones with business advertising on the sides parked there. Semi's aren't allowed but that it.

Personally, I don't think they're the best place to think of leaving a camper, particularly overnight. Not that I'd think of leaving my camper any where, any time anyways...it's my home, it's with me wherever I go. Okay, I've left it at access points for interior camping trips in Algonquin but that's it!

 

[glenpinpat]

Once you are done the conversion you can also have it registered as an rv. It requires 6 of ten things such a bed., etc. Having owned about 20 commercial vans, as mentioned, weight is mto deciding factor. You can choose the weight class of your van the bigger the weight class the more money for plates.

 

[Almost There]

Be extremely careful when deciding whether to try to have a van re-titled as an RV. I'm not sure if glenpinpot is in Ontario or not but each jurisdiction writes it's own rules.

You may very well be able to do that but then trying to get insurance on it is an entirely different matter altogether.

I went through insurance hell when I simply enquired about have RV insurance put on the van once the conversion was complete. Ontario insurance companies do not like writing policies for ANY vehicle that has had ANY modifications... some won't even cover you if you change the rims on a vehicle..I kid you not.

I ended up with stated value coverage on my van - just like you would with a classic car. Actually that's where I ended up having to go - to an insurance company that was used to covering classics.

The contents are not covered under my policy - they're supposed to be covered under Ontario insurance regulations by your homeowners or tenants policy - which of course as a full-timer, I have no need for.

 

[glenpinpat]

I do live in Ontario and have not converted a van to an rv but have converted a short bus and a semi both to rv's and had no problem insuring them. State farm here in ontario have a special policy for conversion atleast with buses.

 

[Mei Jade]

Thanks for the information and suggestions, guys, it's quite helpful.

I'm not too keen on leaving what would effectively be my home anywhere unoccupied for more than 24 hours, especially in a carpool lot, but I like the idea of back up plans and sometimes the train is just more efficient/ realistic than a cargo van. There are a few carpools floating around that let folks park for up to five consecutive days, but that seems to be limited to places close by Go Train terminals. It would be an anxious few days for anyone, though, since it's a risk.

I suppose the benefit of re-titling to RV would be an ability to use some of the RV parks with that requirement, if those exist in Ontario?

 

[Almost There]

The only parks anywhere in North America that I've ever seen to have silly rules like 'it must have an RVIA sticker on it'  are ones that you probably don't want to stay in anyways.

Only high end, (meaning expensive) membership parks make judgement calls about the age of the vehicle, class of RV, etc. for daily camping. Other parks make rules that most often come in to play when you're looking at a seasonal site and then it's because they want to make sure they're not stuck with falling apart wrecks that are abandoned at the end of the season.

None of the national, provincial or state parks of any kind have those type of rules. None of the KOA's I've ever stayed at had those types of rules.

The only time I've been refused a camp site was at a county park system in Florida where they had two campgrounds a couple of miles apart. I was camping in my mini van (no tent) and wanted to stay at the 'no frills' no hook up tent campground. Wasn't allowed there because I wasn't sleeping in my tent and wouldn't be allowed in the other campground because I didn't have an RV with hookups. Silly town council hadn't planned on anything out of the norm....down the road was another campground that was quite happy to take my money!