I have looked into this several times over the past few years with no real obvious answers. Has anyone had any issues with surge brakes being illegal in your state (or Province)? Every year we trailer through OH, KY, TN, GA, FL, MI, and ON and have over 40K mi. on our trailer.
Surge brakes illegal?
- Thread starter shanester
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Call a manufacture of surge brakes, I think they would know. I have them on a current trailer and have had them on other trailers. What prompted the question?
That was settled some years ago. In short, surge brakes are legal.
The 'ban' was based on surge brakes not being consistent with the 'single valve' brake actuation required by DOT standards for commercial and interstate commerce, which was most likely written originally to apply to air brake systems, which may have required hand (trolley) valve operation in addition to foot brake pedal. It ended up being applied (only by some) to surge brakes, as they're not directly connected to the tow vehicle's hydraulic system.
Here's a couple of documents that may throw some light on it.
http://www.centrevilletrailer.com/news-notices/surgebrakelaw.htm
http://www.bipac.net/ararental/Trailer_Surge_Brake_Enforcement_091404.pdf
The 'ban' was based on surge brakes not being consistent with the 'single valve' brake actuation required by DOT standards for commercial and interstate commerce, which was most likely written originally to apply to air brake systems, which may have required hand (trolley) valve operation in addition to foot brake pedal. It ended up being applied (only by some) to surge brakes, as they're not directly connected to the tow vehicle's hydraulic system.
Here's a couple of documents that may throw some light on it.
http://www.centrevilletrailer.com/news-notices/surgebrakelaw.htm
http://www.bipac.net/ararental/Trailer_Surge_Brake_Enforcement_091404.pdf
I see the Federal law was settled in 2007. It appears that this may not have been an issue for non-commercial use anyway. I guess my system will get repaired (again) instead of going to the expense of converting to electric over hydraulic.
IN some states, commercial enterprises are not allowed to use surge brakes and I think Maryland is one state. However, for the non commercial for example private owners, surge brakes are legal from VA to Florida and I think this is true in rest of the US but some stated do require annual inspections and you will have to check the state the trailer is registered in. Some states will requires brakes on all axles and one is PA. Hope this helps
According to these two articles, Maryland removed that prohibition nine years ago, three years before the federal rules were changed to allow surge brakes in interstate commerce.
http://trailer-bodybuilders.com/archive/break-brakes
http://rermag.com/mag/manufacturers-rental-centers-team-surge-brake-law
From some other articles, most states simply referenced federal statutes or DOT rules in their surge brake laws, but since the federal stuff was rescinded, I suppose most of the state rules vaporized as unenforceable (can't enforce a law referenced to another law when the root law no longer exists), except for a few that wrote their own rules. Like Maryland. But I'm just guessing at that, and I'm not a lawyer, so that's all it is - a guess.
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