BajaNomad

Global Entry with Cabover Camper

Suntan - 10-25-2022 at 10:19 AM

My wife and I both have Global Entry passes with a registered Pickup truck.
Can a person use a cabover camper on a Registered vehicle? If so, are the lanes wide enough crossing into the States at the Calexico West border crossing? I have tried to contact CBP to ask; but am having difficulty trying to contact someone live within the agency. Recorded phone responses are the new norm. Would appreciate any info.

John Harper - 10-25-2022 at 10:28 AM

Since the cabover camper is not a registered vehicle or trailer, why would it be a problem? It's just a glorified camper shell.

I would assume if your camper is DOT legal then the lanes are built wide enough to accommodate. Now, if you have some kind of home built contraption, make sure it meets DOT specs for clearances.

John

[Edited on 10-25-2022 by John Harper]

JZ - 10-25-2022 at 10:34 AM

When in doubt, ask them. They usually get back to you within 48 hours.

https://help.cbp.gov/s/questions?language=en_US


[Edited on 10-25-2022 by JZ]

phone number

John M - 10-25-2022 at 10:44 AM

We have always gotten a live person at

(619) 690-7600, extension 5 I believe.

I'm not certain if that number can answer your question but we've been helped a few times.

John M

edited to add: when we got our first SENTRI no overhead campers were allowed, that was 5+ years ago.

[Edited on 10-25-2022 by John M]

WestyWanderer - 10-25-2022 at 03:56 PM

No, you cannot have anything more than a camper shell on your truck.

We tried registering our motorhome years ago and they said that pretty much anything with cabinets in it is not allowed.

C205Driver - 10-25-2022 at 04:08 PM

…SUNTAN, please let the rest of us know what you found out!!! A Truck Camper doesn’t require any registration in Kalifornia & is not licensed. But they do have living quarters and cabinets….

mtgoat666 - 10-25-2022 at 04:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Suntan  
My wife and I both have Global Entry passes with a registered Pickup truck.
Can a person use a cabover camper on a Registered vehicle? If so, are the lanes wide enough crossing into the States at the Calexico West border crossing? I have tried to contact CBP to ask; but am having difficulty trying to contact someone live within the agency. Recorded phone responses are the new norm. Would appreciate any info.


Are the lanes wide enough? How much stuff you got hanging off the side of your house on wheels? You wider than 8 feet and flying wide load signs? The lanes fit normal vehicles, never had a problem with my full size pickup.

Sentri was never intended for RVs and trailers. A slide-in camper is a gray area — sure looks like an RV, all that living quarters and what not.
Are you commuting daily with the slide-in camper? Since you are prob not a frequent crosser with the camper on board, I suggest you just use the ready lane when you got the house on wheels on board.

Suntan - 10-28-2022 at 09:22 AM

I talked to a Sentri official at the Mexicali West border crossing. Cabover pickups are not permitted to use the Sentri lane when returning to the United States. The ease of using the Sentri lane during several border crossings makes its hard to go back to the normal traffic
lanes. Staying in motels is not a bad option heading south.

JZ - 10-28-2022 at 09:32 AM

Thanks for the update.

elgatoloco - 10-28-2022 at 04:12 PM

We have had Sentri since early on back when they inspected your vehicle in person, asked you a bunch of questions at a formal interview, yearly renewal and so on. We have a 4 Wheel Pop Up Camper we put on our 1999 F-250 Super Duty 4x4 Extended Cab Long Bed 7.3L Powerstroke when we want to camp and were told NO CAMPERS, EVER because storage. The whole idea of Sentri was designed to speed the process of crossing the border for those who were frequent travelers back and forth and if the booth agent has to look to see what's in your camper es no bueno. We used to cross north at Tecate if we wanted a change of scenery or to play dodge the cop. Sometimes we would use Otay via the Old road then via BVLD 2000 until they added Ready Lanes in to the mix. When the camper is on the Ready Lane is OK so that's how we roll when we want to camp.

YMMV.

pjpvi - 3-13-2024 at 09:46 AM

Just to add to this old thread, I recently crossed back into the states with our new flatbed truck camper in the Sentri lane (using Global Entry cards) and were explicitly told that we cannot use the Sentri lane with a truck camper. He said he had the right to take our Global Entry cards on the spot but just gave us a warning and said if we do it again we would likely lose our cards. Not sure if he noted the warning in my online profile or not. A bit of a bummer that we'll be back in the normal line again going forward.

When I crossed in my E350 based Sportmobile van last year they were fine with that.

JZ - 3-13-2024 at 10:06 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pjpvi  
Just to add to this old thread, I recently crossed back into the states with our new flatbed truck camper in the Sentri lane (using Global Entry cards) and were explicitly told that we cannot use the Sentri lane with a truck camper. He said he had the right to take our Global Entry cards on the spot but just gave us a warning and said if we do it again we would likely lose our cards. Not sure if he noted the warning in my online profile or not. A bit of a bummer that we'll be back in the normal line again going forward.

When I crossed in my E350 based Sportmobile van last year they were fine with that.


Good news about the van camper.

AKgringo - 3-13-2024 at 12:39 PM

Surely there is a point between a slightly modified van and a mini-motorhome that will push someone over the acceptable for Global Entry category.

Can that be determined ahead of time, or does it depend on who is working, and what kind of day they are having?

PaulW - 3-13-2024 at 05:41 PM

Does Mexicali East Northbound Sentri or Ready have height limits?
When I drive in the standard lane I look over and see low clearance over thereabouts?

mtgoat666 - 3-13-2024 at 05:45 PM

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW  
Does Mexicali East Northbound Sentri or Ready have height limits?
When I drive in the standard lane I look over and see low clearance over thereabouts?


Mexicali east has overhead xray devices on all but one lane. Dont remember the clearance, but cabover or sprinter type may not fit… especially with roof racks

PaulW - 3-13-2024 at 08:11 PM

Someone mentioned on Facebook the there will be signs for low clearance.
I wonder it if the Mexican in charge got that message?

BooJumMan - 3-13-2024 at 08:11 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  


Mexicali east has overhead xray devices on all but one lane. Dont remember the clearance, but cabover or sprinter type may not fit… especially with roof racks


There is new construction happening right now on northbound Mexicali East where they are installing more x-ray type looking structures. They appear to be very tight. I don't remember them crossing last November, but they were working on them 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if a cabover camper would fit, but I'd sure hope they planned that out...

PaulW - 3-13-2024 at 08:14 PM

Something like that is going on at Algodones. They have torn down all the old booths and roof structures. Big delays going S
The first thing they added was a huge flag pole.

mtgoat666 - 3-13-2024 at 09:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BooJumMan  
. I'm not sure if a cabover camper would fit, but I'd sure hope they planned that out...


I don't think the plan is for people to cross via the xray lanes if they are living in their vehicle. The vans lifers, cab overs, RVs just got way too much stuff to xray. Gotta send them to oversize lane.
The over-stuffed vehicles slow down the process for everyone else (agents need more time to clear the trucks packed like over-stuffed sausage), perhaps best they stick to the slow lane, eh?

BooJumMan - 11-14-2024 at 06:08 AM

Following up with regards to the new xray machines at Mexicali East, heading north into USA. My F350 with Four Wheel Pop top camper barely fit. I had to fold in the tow mirrors to fit on the sides and probably cleared the top by less than a foot.

All but the leftmost lane (Sentri) had them (assuming oversized lane doesn't have them, but I didn't actually see that lane). General and Ready lanes went through the machines.

Cab over campers and most sprinter vans will not fit. There was no warning about them either.

We have Sentri but do not use it anymore after a longer trip with camp gear.

Furthermore, the word is out about Mexicali East, took us over 3 hours to cross via Ready lane. Longest I've waited heading north was about 30 mins. We usually cross between 6-8am on Sunday (yes, I know, Sundays are the worst....)

[Edited on 11-14-2024 by BooJumMan]