Curb Weight – The weight of a vehicle with standard equipment including the maximum capacity of fuel, oil and coolant. This does not include optional equipment or passengers.

Gross Axle Weight – The weight that is loaded on the front and rear axle.

Gross Axle Weight Rating – The amount specified by the manufacturer as the maximum weight that can safely be loaded onto the axle.

Gross Combination Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) – The value specified by the manufacturer of the tow vehicle that is the maximum total trailer weight combination that can be safely pulled.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) also Gross Weight (GW) – The weight of a single vehicle including its total load.

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) – The maximum loaded weight of a single vehicle. This includes the weight of the tow vehicle, passengers, equipment, fuel and the tongue weight of the trailer (bumper pull or gooseneck) of the tow vehicle. For the horse trailer, this includes the weight of horses, hay, feed, supplies, tack, mats, spare tire and any other components.

Payload – Gross payload is the extra or non-standard weight carried in the vehicle (passengers, options and cargo). Net payload is the weight that can be placed in/on the vehicle after all the gross payload items have been removed.

Payload Rating – This is the maximum payload allowed for a vehicle.

Tongue Weight – This is the weight that presses down on the trailer hitch (bumper pull) or the rear axle (gooseneck). Your bumper pull tongue weight should be 10-15% of your trailer weight, and goosenecks should be 25% of the trailer weight. If you have too much tongue weight, your front wheels can lose traction and make steering and braking difficult. You can also cause damage to your suspension and drive train. Likewise, too little tongue weight can make the rear end fishtail and cause you to lose control.

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