kevin.5.smith Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 hey guys im 26 have a full uk licence, since 2011, dont have hgv. what are the laws in regards to driving a 33ft rv in america? im doing a 3 week route 66 trip? thanks in advance for any comments :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 kevin.5.smith - 2015-10-14 10:30 PM hey guys im 26 have a full uk licence, since 2011, dont have hgv. what are the laws in regards to driving a 33ft rv in america? im doing a 3 week route 66 trip? thanks in advance for any comments :-) Why one earth are you, presumably hiring a 33ft RV? On my trips to the US it seems if you have s full licence and are over 25 you can drive just about anything. There will be someone along soon who will know all about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 kevin.5.smith - 2015-10-14 10:30 PM hey guys im 26 have a full uk licence, since 2011, dont have hgv. what are the laws in regards to driving a 33ft rv in america? im doing a 3 week route 66 trip? thanks in advance for any comments :-) Why one earth are you, presumably hiring a 33ft RV? On my trips to the US it seems if you have s full licence and are over 25 you can drive just about anything. There will be someone along soon who will know all about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwendolyn Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 We are currently in USA on a 2 month trip and driving a hired R V which is 34 ft of sheer hell!! No questions asked about age, years driving and so on. Just done a bit of Route 66, and loved it. Worry not! Cheers, Gwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 kevin.5.smith - 2015-10-14 10:30 PM hey guys im 26 have a full uk licence, since 2011, dont have hgv. what are the laws in regards to driving a 33ft rv in america? im doing a 3 week route 66 trip? thanks in advance for any comments :-) Same as most countries in a way, obey the law and don't argue with the police. I doubt you will be able to speed in a sizeable RV but don't try. Above all plan your route and allow plenty of time. And don't ever think you know it all ! PS there's plenty of road information on the web if you search for it and don't forget when you return to tell all on what it was like. You don't say what you drive now but 33ft will be twice the length of most UK motorhomes and could be 4 times longer than a car and may take a little adjusting to, particularly on turning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Gwendolyn - 2015-10-15 7:20 AM We are currently in USA on a 2 month trip and driving a hired R V which is 34 ft of sheer hell!! No questions asked about age, years driving and so on. Just done a bit of Route 66, and loved it. Gwendolyn. I'm not sure if your visions of 'hell' are exciting or frightening ! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 It's not the length but the weight. We hired a 32 ft in 2006 no problems re licence to drive, but whatch out when turning there is a lot of van behind the rear wheels so if you are parked close to a wall or another rv don't turn out to sharp as the back end will catch. Speed limits are strictly enforced not I doubt you will speed as the fuel gauge will go down very fast. Also if you have to brake very hard anything not tied down will come flying at you. On the good side US camp grounds are geared up for big rigs a lot have drive through pitches, but look out for overhead obstructions. Also have you got a mileage package the miles soon clock up. Might be worth you joining the KOA of America, it like the Caravan club here and gives you discounted site fees at a lot of sites. Depending on what you have hired if it's petrol between 7 & 12 mpg Diesel 12 to 15. Mpg. We had a wheel trim come off and got charged $100 for it until the lady said they are always coming off, I explained if it was a known problem why was I not told I would have taken them all off at the beginning, I got my $100 back. Make sure you have full insurance some of the excesses are steep even the overhead damage might not be covered. Things may have changed a lot since we hired ours, so go and enjoy the experience. Just out of interest who have you hired from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Despite havng hired in North America of many occasions, I don't know the answer, as we have uk licence to cover. As you only it seems 3.5t licence an email to hire company explaining what groups you have might get answer, or even to us embassy. p.s. Iirc an RV that size will be 5.5t plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 As said KOA sites are good and everywhere. Mileages are deceiving. Going by UK map sizes the US ones can be 4 times the distance for the same sized page. Map your journeys for 100 miles per day if you want to visit attractions, this doesn't seem a lot but do you want to spend all day driving. We've been several times but only ever plan a small area to visit each time and have still not seen 80% of the country. Many sites are beside water AND mosquitoes AND they like foreign blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 It appears from rv sites that as a normal car licence is all that is needed to drive a big rv in the USA, it is OK for you, even though you couldn't drive one in the UK. But it does say get that in writing from the rv company as they could wriggle out of insurance claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin.5.smith Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 sorry i forgot to mention there are 5 of us going im not alone in case you where wondering why so big on my own :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin.5.smith Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 guys i appreciated all the replies thank you. i have done a little research and it appears to me anything less than 40ft does not require a HT( equivalent to hgv) i will be sending a few emais to the embassy and rv rental company. can anybody recommend a company to hire from either in chicago or LA. thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Hi Driving an R-V in the USA. requires only a UK FULL driving licence. I had a UK LGV but was never asked. you can drive over 16tonne (I think the cut-off is 29000lbs) before a CDL is required. We had nearly 5 years of ownership and the log is over 27 States. Parts of "old" 66 are under I-44 and I40. but some bits still exist. The most interesting can no longer be accessed by anything less than 4WD. (Kingman to Needles Via Oatman). I used "Streets and Trips" for route planning, (now defunct but second hand copies might be on "flea bay") 2013 was the last produced by Microsoft. As other have said If you have not driven anything that big before remember to go wide on corners or you will take out your fair share of "street furniture". edging to the LEFT before a right Turn is recommended!. The likes of Cruise America and El Monte No longer rent A Class models you will have to go to specialist renters for them. (we owned ours, sold it in July last). If I remember anything else I will post Again. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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