When do I need an operators licence/tacho?

[Chris Sheppard]

Gloves are no longer mandatory.

Good

[arniecardigan]

So if I go buy a 7.5tonne lorry or bigger with a crane and log grab (making it a dual purpose vehicle)purely to go collect timber for myself which I then process into firewood do I need an operators licence? also I took my class 2 hgv years ago but havent driven hgv for some 8 years do I need to do a cpc course?

It's just an idea at the moment as my truck isn't big enough for some of the loads I need to carry so i end up having to hire which obviously hammers any profit in the timber!!

Answers on a postcard please!

[gensetsteve]

All this legislation is great helping to protect your loved ones. Anyone noticed how many lorry drivers with LT or PL on the back are falling asleep at the wheel almost daily we see lorrys swerving all over the road and how many have been on the sauce. Every other documentary seems to feature a foreign lorry in a pile up or is it bias that way to make programs. I would not worry about the land rover being 50kg too heavy for an excemption as the juggernaut plows in the back of you at 56mph.

[L200LOG]

Can anyone tell me at what point I need an operators licence and tachograph? I am tying myself up in knots trying to understand the rules about 3.5t, 7.5t. Or 3.5t with 3.5t trailer on the back. Are there other regs to consider? Will I need 6 weekly servicing from a registered garage? Will I have to pay for an extortionately priced tax disc? aaaaahhhh! HELP!

 

 

thanks

 

All quite grey area so just keep on trucking!!!

[Alycidon]

In practice, no-one seems to enforce the rules if you run a 3500 kg towing vehicle and trailer, although the law is very clear.

 

You wanna bet !!, I got pulled off the M6 near Birmingham a few months ago with a Disco and tandem axle IFW box trailer.

 

As I understand it as already posted over 3.5t its teh whole nine yards. Under that if for hire and reward ie part of a business then you may or may not need a tacho.

 

The interpretation I got for a guy who takes on legal cases in the area is that:

 

If you are pulling a trailer and you maximum allowed gross train weight is over 3.5 tonnes ( tow vech + trailer + max allowed cargo) then the following applies:

 

If you are operating within 50 kilometers of base and are taking tools to do a job then it is arguable in court. Bringing timber back if for processing and resale is hire and reward so tacho needed. Over 50K or 30 miles then its Tacho anyway but if trailer max gross weight is under 3.5t you only need keep your discs for a short time, keeping mine 6 months. No O lic, no inspections etc. Most IFW trailers are 3.5 ton, look at the plate on the drawbar. I am toying with getting one built at 3.3 tonnes. My present open trailer is a bit short for bags of wood and is 2.7 ton as is the box trailer.

When I was pulled it was part of a Police training exercise, must have been 20 + coppers being trained on the regs.

 

Fine for a first offence is £200, I was nice to the guys, no lip and got let off but I had a tacho installed in a few days as you might know that details of the stop are on records.

 

Consider it another tax !!

 

A

[Alycidon]

So if I go buy a 7.5tonne lorry or bigger with a crane and log grab (making it a dual purpose vehicle)purely to go collect timber for myself which I then process into firewood do I need an operators licence? also I took my class 2 hgv years ago but havent driven hgv for some 8 years do I need to do a cpc course?

It's just an idea at the moment as my truck isn't big enough for some of the loads I need to carry so i end up having to hire which obviously hammers any profit in the timber!!

Answers on a postcard please!

 

You will certainly need O lic, operating center, 6 week checks, Tacho etc, you will very soon also need a CPC, this is soon becoming a mandatory requirement for all holders of HGV licences.

 

A

[ROG.]

For O licencing DUAL PURPOSE vehicle means one which is a normal vehicle such as a standard 4X4 and also used for commercial purposes

 

Tacho rules do have some exemptions for B category vehicles & trailers as well as smaller LGVs where the combination MAM is under 7.5 tonnes

 

Drivers of all LGVs (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes) using them for any commercial purpose will have to do the driver cpc - the cut off date for most will be 09/09/2014

 

VOSA/police will be checking that drivers of LGVs have the DQC (driver cpc card) with them after 09/09/2014 and if found not to then it will be - start walking driver ......

[Crazy Cutter]

For O licencing DUAL PURPOSE vehicle means one which is a normal vehicle such as a standard 4X4 and also used for commercial purposes

 

Tacho rules do have some exemptions for B category vehicles & trailers as well as smaller LGVs where the combination MAM is under 7.5 tonnes

 

Drivers of all LGVs (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes) using them for any commercial purpose will have to do the driver cpc - the cut off date for most will be 09/09/2014

 

VOSA/police will be checking that drivers of LGVs have the DQC (driver cpc card) with them after 09/09/2014 and if found not to then it will be - start walking driver ......

 

I started a thread a few weeks ago on driver cpc and was told that as driving wasn't my main activity i had an exemption. Delivery of logs (felling, extraction and splitting is my main activity) by trailer using a landrover within 50 km of base? What is the score on ol, tachos and cpc because as usual we haven't had a straight answer!

[gensetsteve]

I started a thread a few weeks ago on driver cpc and was told that as driving wasn't my main activity i had an exemption. Delivery of logs (felling, extraction and splitting is my main activity) by trailer using a landrover within 50 km of base? What is the score on ol, tachos and cpc because as usual we haven't had a straight answer!

 

Modifying and plugging loop holes over the years has made the rules so complex that even vosa dont understand them. We go about our business earning a living in the hope that if we fall foul of a law no one understands, that when we get to court that the judge has consumed enough gin and be in a big rush to get to the golf course that he lets us off lightly.

[Crazy Cutter]

 

Drivers of all LGVs (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes) using them for any commercial purpose will have to do the driver cpc

 

Is that just the vehicle or the combined weight with trailer? Is that for C class licences or does that include B + E as some it states CPC was for C licences and above only.

 

My local large firm coal merchants now use cabstars not 7.5 tonners!