2 vans or 7.5 toner

[Brett]

years ago when i worked for a firm in aberdeen, we were pulled, both the driver and the owner were prosecuted, 3 offences each, front axle, rear axle and vehicle not fit for purpose (poor condition). the owner had to pull two more squads off work to shovel chip into other vans, what was in one barely fit in three legally, vosa also inspected the other two vans as they came in, expensive day for the boss.

[Tom D]

i,ve been running overloaded vans for 15 years or so, I hadn't realised just how overloaded they were. I thought our transit full to the brim would be a ton over max, turns out it was 2.1 over. Plus it had 1.2 ton of chipper behind it too, 6.8 gross. Thats quite a lot for those little transit brakes to deal with.

 

Like Mark says, there's little between the 3.5's and the OL and all the hassle. Its a hard call to go for anything bigger, even though staying at 3.5 means your overloaded all the time.

[simonm]

Its easy to go and buy a 3.5 toner and use it as a work vehicle, mot tax & insurance your away, in reality 3.5t allows for a 1- 1.5t payload inc tools, body , fuel, passengers, nose weight of trailer...most people will be overweight not just tree folk, the vehicle is not fit for purpose.

Why make it so expensive to obtain an o licence, inspections in reality are a small inconvenience all this crap about having to enter & exit operating centre in a forward gear is bollocks! ive being reversing in for years with the van, this again makes it difficult to do things legitimately as its another financial cost to bare.

If things were easier and cheaper and dvsa would help instead of trying to catch the working man out maybe nobody would be running around overloaded.

[Dillinger86]

This is it.. if you're running a transit and you're constantly overloading then what's the next step? A unimog? Couldn't be a more impractical vehicle out here

 

 

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[jpbeaver]

Getting an operators license isn't hard or expensive. There are plenty of trucks to choose from apart from 3.5t transits and unimogs.

[Mark Bolam]

We're all on the same page here lads. Where do we go?

Legit is the right answer of course, but you'll lose out to the overloaded (like me) brigade.

I'm a bit sick of hearing 'our 18 tonner will get in anywhere a Transit will' as well. If you've being doing this for any length of time you'll know that's bullshit.

It's a real problem for domestic arb.

 

 

 

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[simonm]

Getting an operators license isn't hard or expensive. There are plenty of trucks to choose from apart from 3.5t transits and unimogs.

 

DVSA Application Fee

£257

 

 

Public Notice Fee

£350 (approx)

 

DVSA Granting Fee

£401

 

Call it a grand...how much does it cost to run a transit?

[josharb87]

We're all on the same page here lads. Where do we go?

Legit is the right answer of course, but you'll lose out to the overloaded (like me) brigade.

I'm a bit sick of hearing 'our 18 tonner will get in anywhere a Transit will' as well. If you've being doing this for any length of time you'll know that's bullshit.

It's a real problem for domestic arb.

 

 

 

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Everyone except for dillinger seems to be on the same page

 

there are higher plated vans the same foot print as regular vans, iveco daily, cabstar, grafter to name a few.

But most are greedy and want more capacity if going bigger, which in turn leads to still being overweight.

[Tom D]

This is it.. if you're running a transit and you're constantly overloading then what's the next step? A unimog? Couldn't be a more impractical vehicle out here

 

 

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Which, the transit or the mog?

 

 

Mark, I'm with you on the 18 tonner thing, but I have been well surprised by the agility of our little mog. It is shorter than the transit, no wider and it has a better turning circle. To be clear the mog is shorter than the transit and the mog with chipper is a lot shorter than the transit and chipper. Even when I used to drive the big 1750 with the monster bandit up front it was surprising where you could get that.

 

As to the economics, the mog does the work of 2 vehicles and uses twice the fuel of the transit, so not much difference there. A decent mog and chipper might be £50k but a new transit and chipper will cost you that by the time you have put an arb body and tool box on it. Then there's the depreciation, after a few years the transit is worth next to nothing, as I'm just finding out, whereas mogs hold their value really well. Even 30 year old mogs make good money.

[jpbeaver]

DVSA Application Fee

 

£257

 

 

 

 

 

Public Notice Fee

 

£350 (approx)

 

 

 

DVSA Granting Fee

 

£401

 

 

 

Call it a grand...how much does it cost to run a transit?

 

 

£1000 for 5 years. It's hardly expensive. How much is the fine for being overloaded? How much will your insurance go up by after getting points for being overloaded?

 

My truck is 8'6 wide and 26' long. Yeah it costs more to run than a transit but I don't need to empty every 30 minutes either.

 

It won't go down every drive but it is surprising where it'll go.