Step Van Parking

[pseudo]

As per my other thread, I'm looking to buy a step van and have my eye on one with an 18ft cargo area, which I guess means a total length of around 24ft. Its GVW is 10,000lb.

One of the big reasons for wanting a step van is stealth but I'm wondering whether one as big as that will be problematic to park in cities...
I've googled commercial vehicle parking regulations and it's a real minefield with pretty much every city having different rules regarding length and GVW.

Anyone have any experience?

Would getting it titled as an RV help? Or would RV plates completely defeat the point of having a stealthy vehicle? Is it possible to title it as a truck but for personal use only? Would that help get around the "commercial vehicle" laws?

It seems residential areas will definitely be out of the question, if only due to length. Commercial/industrial areas would be fine by me but don't they have regulations for overnight parking too? Will I be doomed to stay in Walmart parking lots all the time?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I used to park my "vanilla" van in industrial/warehouse districts without any problem.
We've parked our class A in a few industrial areas where we spotted company RVs and parked by the curb overnight and a weekend once.
One morning we drank coffee while watching people come to work and nobody seemed to notice our rig. Next week we used the spot again.
That was Bend, Or...no overnight parking by law, not even Walmart.
Spud Muffins pub (cheap beer prices & munchies) is cool and they can show you where we parked a few nights now and then.

Hard to say what you can get away with up in Pa. One guy we know parks 2 blocks from the cop shop...1 1/2 years now and never bothered. Yet a guy a block over was rousted after a few nights.
Just gotta feel it out.

May "The Force" be with you

 

[wagoneer]

I would lay odds the guy that was rousted ignored "code of conduct". My 1 ton van with windows was commercial plated and in my residential neighborhood not park friendly I switched plates and the dmv guy told me I was doing it at my own risk.?? I am going for the RV look, just a non active RV look.

 

[Fabber McGee]

I found this site a few weeks ago when I bought a retired "Twinkie Truck" that I plan to make into a stealthy style motorhome. I've been lurking around here since then, but haven't seen a reason to say anything until now.

I'm flying to St. Louis in January to pick it up. Same thing you're looking at 16'5" behind the drivers seat and 90" wide. Since Hostess went bankrupt, the market is flooded and prices are about a third of what they were a year ago. I think this is about the end of the glut, prices seem to be climbing. Mine has a turbo charged and aftercooled 4 cylinder Cummins and a 5 speed. Unladen weight is 4700 pounds, about the same as a pickup. I've seen several places where the owners claim 20 mpg, we'll see. Anything under 10,000 GVW doesn't require commercial plates or drivers license and no stops at the scales. I just registered mine as a van, that's in Alaska, might be different elsewhere.

24' should fit about anywhere, my 97 Ford 4 door long box pickup is 22 feet long and I can park it about any place. A step van should be perfect for stealth camping. It ought to blend in anyplace where commercial trucks are waiting to unload in the morning.

I guess I'd better hunt up a place to introduce myself.

 

[wagoneer]

get yourself a gallon of glossy wht. paint and a fine hair roller with an extention any city parking will have the taggers whooping with glee. This used to be aluminum

 

[Patrick46]

get yourself a gallon of glossy wht. paint and a fine hair roller with an extention

Get a FOAM roller, not one with any 'NAP' to it. Put a few drops of Penetrol in your oil base paint too, and it'll sheen right over into a nice glossy finish. (but don't apply it too heavy, 'cause it'll sag!)


I'm a certified STEPVAN JUNKEE!!! I'll be getting #8 in my fleet this coming spring.

Stepvan, cargovan, boxtruck....these all work great for vandwelling, especially if you wanna be 'stealthy'! :dodgy:

 

[Canine]

I was a commercial driver at one time. The information I'm about to give you is not some I ideas of how I kind of think things work; it is very accurate and up to date. I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but I'll try to answer some "commercial vehicle" laws. If any info I give you is out of context and needs to be further specified for your application, I will try to do so.

26,000 GVWR is a magic number. 26,000 pounds and less does not require a CDL or a special endorsement. (There are exceptions, but those are uncommon.) 26,000+ GVWR needs a CDL ONLY IF you are working for someone else or using it to make money. You can drive a 60,000 pound GVWR vehicle for non-commercial use without a CDL. Since you are at 10,000 GVWR, you are safe no matter if the vehicle you are using is being used to make money or not. This is a federal law not state or city.

The size of the vehicle does matter depending on what the city ordinances are. Generally, if your width is 78 inches or less, you are safe. Anything more will need to be checked against each city's ordinances- what a pain! Use common sense when you park. If the rules only allow narrow vehicles, but the area you choose to park has very wide streets with no other extenuating circumstances to consider, you will highly likely not have a problem with the width of your vehicle.

Length? Not sure. An 24 foot long vehicle is going to bring a little more attention than a standard length vehicle. People dislike double parking no matter the size of the vehicle. People tend to give little leeway to larger vehicles because most people don't want to share the road. The "screw you, me first" attitude is hard to work with at times. When parking a commercial sized truck, I never had anyone walk up to me and give me trouble, but I have no doubt that they disliked being forced to park another 15 feet or more away from where they could have parked if I had not been there. Despite how crabby people can be, overall, I bet you would be pleasantly surprised how much you could get away with for a night.

I don't have experience in other states, but I can't see why you can't title this vehicle as a personal vehicle. If at all possible, DO NOT title it as a commercial vehicle if you are not using it as a commercial vehicle. You DO NOT want to get into the regulations commercial vehicles are required to comply with. Avoid at all costs!!

A van that is 6 1/2 feet wide with no more than a 12 foot interior cargo area and no more than a 10 foot overall height will keep you in or near the safe zone. Any larger than that and you will start to push the edge of ordinances. Any larger will also physically start to limit where you can go. Heights over 10 feet will start clipping more overhanging branches. TV coaxial cables start getting in the way when going through alleys. Most underpasses will allow a 10 foot tall vehicle. Wider vehicles like 8 foot or even 8 1/2 foot will challenge your driving skills if you don't have the experience. It's amazing what a trained driver can do with an over-sized vehicle, but a narrow vehicle is still your friend.

When I was a kid, I traveled to Florida and spent 4 months there. (Which was awesome!) During my visit, I drove through an affluent neighborhood with a rusty, 74 Nova. Within 5 minutes I got pulled over and was asked what I was doing there. I was doing absolutely nothing wrong in any way whatsoever, but because I was driving a crappy looking car, I caught attention.

 

[Fabber McGee]

Excellent information Canine, thanks.

 

[sassypickins]

@Canine -- good stuff, goes in my keep file. Thanks!

 

[Fabber McGee]

I knew I had 10,000 pounds stuck in my head. I went back through my emails and came up with this one from a friend who worked at the Alaska DMV at the time.

"Whether or not the rates will be commercial depend on the empty weight of the vehicle. Anything over 10,000# unladen weight gets registered under the commercial rate, regardless of what you use it for....unless you show that it has been converted to a motorhome."

 

[Canine]

Fabber, here is some more info I gathered. Be ready to get confused- or not!

Interstate for commercial vehicles that weigh over 10,000 need to be registered. Intrastate commercial for Montana is over 26,000. Intrastate rules vary somewhat. But the previous examples are for commercial use. In looking for information for noncommercial use for vehicles in Montana, I found, like you did, that the heavier the vehicle is, the more tax you pay. The tax rate for commercial vehicles is the same for personal-use vehicles. I also found no mention of needing to register the vehicle as a commercial vehicle based solely on GVWR. That is good news for vandwellers.

Motorhomes are taxed differently, so that needs to be taken into account when registering it. The registration fees for motorhomes in Montana are higher than regular vehicles.

Another 10,000 pound rule: If you drive commercially in a vehicle over 10,000 pounds, you can be exempt from overtime just like the big truckers on the road. If you work for FedEx Ground or other delivery company and work over 40 hours per week, you may want to stick to the smaller vehicles.

Another 10,000 pound rule: You need a class A license to commercially pull a trailer weighing over 10,000 pounds.

I think the day is coming when a non-commercial license will be required to drive heavy vehicles. At least one province in Canada may require that.

Commercial driving/vehicle rules are numerous, conflicting, and basically a giant cluster.

 

[Fabber McGee]

Whew! Lots of stuff hinges on the magic 10,000 too. I guess the key is just keep it under 10,000. Thanks again.

 

[Ballenxj]

I discussed this at length with the lady at a Nevada D.M.V. before registering my box truck that "was" registered at 12,00 pounds. She told me the magic number is 10,000 pounds, and that if I changed my load rating to 10,000 pounds it was substantially less to register as well.
I also told her that eventually mine was going to be converted to a motorhome. She said a lot of folks are doing that.