Suntan
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Global Entry with Cabover Camper
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.
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John Harper
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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]
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JZ
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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]
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John M
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phone number
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]
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WestyWanderer
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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.
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C205Driver
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…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….
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mtgoat666
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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.
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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Suntan
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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.
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JZ
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Thanks for the update.
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elgatoloco
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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.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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pjpvi
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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.
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JZ
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| 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.
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AKgringo
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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?
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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PaulW
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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?
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mtgoat666
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| 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
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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PaulW
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Someone mentioned on Facebook the there will be signs for low clearance.
I wonder it if the Mexican in charge got that message?
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BooJumMan
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| 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...
In that pre-Google Earth and social media epoch, The Code was adhered to. It was based on a simple verity: if a locale had been transformational for
you, and you had put the hard yards in to get there and to learn it, to know it, why in god�s name would you broadcast the news, thus ruining the
future experience not only for yourself, but for future adventurers?
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PaulW
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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.
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mtgoat666
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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?
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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BooJumMan
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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]
In that pre-Google Earth and social media epoch, The Code was adhered to. It was based on a simple verity: if a locale had been transformational for
you, and you had put the hard yards in to get there and to learn it, to know it, why in god�s name would you broadcast the news, thus ruining the
future experience not only for yourself, but for future adventurers?
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