Those are usually Topkicks. Basically take a pickup slide-in camper, stab it on a 4500/5500 cab-and-chassis, and turn the rest into the load deck. There are some longer, yes usually around 24 feet. But there are hard to come by due to manufacturing cost.
The trick is that anything with a "fifth wheel" on a "high capacity or commercial chassis" is legally an 18 wheeler tractor, which requires a CDL but has an unlimited wheelbase. HOWEVER, if it has full living quarters (IE, more than just a sleeper box), it is registered as a Recreational Vehicle. This removes the CDL requirement, however keeps the tractor definition. As a result, you end up with a ~40 foot long RV which only requires an airbrake endorsement to drive, towing up to a 53 foot trailer (or 48 in some states and/or 36 in some locales, accordingly). The length of the "tractor" "recreational vehicle" is only limited by when can pull into a truck stop without wiping out three 4-wheelers, a couple stop signs, the truck-stop sign, and a pedestrian or two. Which has been arbitrarily defined as about 90-95 feet or so
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/size_regs_final_rpt/index.htm#tts
The minimum allowable length limit for the semitrailer in this combination is 14.63 m (48 feet) or the grandfathered limit for a particular State. (See discussion of Grandfathered Semitrailer Lengths on page 3.) A State may not impose an overall vehicle length limit on a truck tractor-semitrailer combination operating on the National Network or reasonable access routes, even if the trailer is longer than the minimum length required by Federal law (Figure 2). A State may not impose an overall length limit on a truck tractor pulling a single semitrailer or a limit on the distance between the axles of such a truck tractor.
A truck tractor is defined as a non-cargo-carrying power unit used in combination with a semitrailer. A truck that carries cargo on the same chassis as the power unit and cab, commonly known as a straight truck, is not subject to Federal regulations, but is subject only to State provisions. Likewise a straight truck towing a trailer or semitrailer is subject only to State vehicle length regulation, except that the total length of its two cargo-carrying units may not exceed a federally established limit of 65 feet. (See discussion of ISTEA "Freeze," on page 13.) The only instances where Federal regulations apply to a combination vehicle composed of a truck carrying cargo involve dromedaries, maxi-cube vehicles, and automobile and boat transporters, discussed later in this document.
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to get this deal done. He must have backed up a lot of tongue steer 4 wheel farm trailers in his life, it is an art for sure.
