The old towing chestnut

[firewood]

Ok. I have a transit tipper 90 bhp 3.5 tonner gross. I also have a pre 97 licence.

 

Plate on truck shows:

 

Front axle...1550 kg

Rear axle...2450 kg

 

Gross 3500 kg

 

Another figure gtw? Of 5750 kg.

 

My question is what can I legally tow with and without a tacho and with and without an o licence?

 

I only carry my own goods and sometimes go beyond 50km from base.

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[SAM66S]

You can tow 2250kg, dont need an o licence or tacho if its 50km from base as the crow flies or not for or reward

[firewood]

Thanks sam.

 

Is the plate on the trailer used to ascertain the 2250kg limit?

 

If I go beyond 50km what is the weight limit without tacho or o licence?

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[SAM66S]

You are limited by the plate on the van to 2250kg or which ever 1 is the lesser. I dont think you need an o licence at all since its the towing vehicle is under 3500kg. If you travel over the 50km as the crow flies & are over 3500kg you are supposed to have a tacho. But i could be wrong!!

[borderfirewood]

gtw stands for gross train weight, that is your max overall weight of van and trailer, but you must not go over the gross weight of either individually, im not sure on the tacho thing but i think you have to run one if it is commercial and you are over 3500kg gross but i,nm not 100%

[openspaceman]

You are limited by the plate on the van to 2250kg or which ever 1 is the lesser. I dont think you need an o licence at all since its the towing vehicle is under 3500kg. If you travel over the 50km as the crow flies & are over 3500kg you are supposed to have a tacho. But i could be wrong!!

 

You don't need an operator's licence if the unladen weight of the trailer is under an old ton (+-).

 

It's the plated weight of the trailer that counts for the combination weight, e.g. he cannot legally tow a trailer plated for 3.5 tonnes even if it is empty. Only dedicated trafic officers tend to know this.

 

The 50km rule is only for workers carrying their own tools, not delivery drivers but again hard to prove.

[treequip]

You don't need an operator's licence if the unladen weight of the trailer is under an old ton (+-).

 

It's the plated weight of the trailer that counts for the combination weight, e.g. he cannot legally tow a trailer plated for 3.5 tonnes even if it is empty. Only dedicated trafic officers tend to know this.

 

The 50km rule is only for workers carrying their own tools, not delivery drivers but again hard to prove.

 

Thats not quite right. The size of the trailer has nothing to do with the O licence.

[openspaceman]

Thats not quite right. The size of the trailer has nothing to do with the O licence.

 

It does in a round about way, the wording is

 

" A trailer with an unladen weight of less

than 1,020kg need not be taken into account

in the weight calculation for a vehicle pulling

a trailer. It therefore can be ignored for the

purposes of adding up total gross weights

or unladen weights to determine whether

they are above the threshold for requiring

an operator’s licence."

 

Now how long would that take to find before google?

 

Now don't get me going on nippers towing and tachos

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

Is that a smiley?

[openspaceman]

Ok. I have a transit tipper 90 bhp 3.5 tonner gross. I also have a pre 97 licence.

 

I'd be interested in knowing its actual unladen weight

[treequip]

It does in a round about way, the wording is

 

" A trailer with an unladen weight of less

than 1,020kg need not be taken into account

in the weight calculation for a vehicle pulling

a trailer. It therefore can be ignored for the

purposes of adding up total gross weights

or unladen weights to determine whether

they are above the threshold for requiring

an operator’s licence."

 

Now how long would that take to find before google?

 

Now don't get me going on nippers towing and tachos

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

Is that a smiley?

 

The threshold for operator licencing is 3500kg.

 

For “O” licencing purposes it matters not what size of trailer you put behind it.