Good news from VOSA!

[firewood]

Is this only for goods vehicles though? As i know of folk who have had to change plating on trailers due to being pulled over.

And if your using van or 4x4 that isnt a dual purpose is it not max 80% of kerb weight allowed to be towed?

 

What does "dual purpose" mean.

 

I would say my transit tipper is goods vehicle albeit a light one.

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[firewood]

opened ok for me.

 

Mesterh

 

Can you repost the copy you have succesfully downloaded? I might just have an issue with original posted by peter. Or it might be just my samsung galaxy ace phone not liking it.

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[Peter]

I cant open it on my iphone either.

[firewood]

I cant open it on my iphone either.

 

Pm sent.

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[Mesterh]

Try this one instead.

 

[openspaceman]

Yes, as unlikely as it seems, common sense seems to have prevailed.

 

VOSA now say that you don't have to downplate your trailer to the max towing capacity of the towing vehicle, as it is the actual weight of the trailer that matters, not the plated weight.

 

.

 

Good find Peter

 

A bit of digging and it seems they issued a new leaflet in December

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Quick%20guide%20to%20towing%20small%20trailers.pdf

 

In the past their view was that it was the potential to carry the load that made the trailer plated weight the thing that decided the combination weight,

 

There is a certain amount of ambiguity but as you say they will now only consider the actual gross weight of the trailer rather than its potential gross weight.

 

I would have liked to see a definition of "small trailer" and whether it olny applied to vehicles as defined in B for licence requirements.

 

Otherwise it would mean an unladen 7.5 MAM vehicle could tow a trailer greater than 750kg on a C1+E licence with the 107 restriction.

[Jesse]

Nice1 for sharing the info.

 

I bet the VOSA staff at the side of the road aren't as clued up.

 

VOSA staff-me thinks PHYTOPLANKTON

[ukminch]

I still believe all the information is there, yes some of it is hard to find but as drivers it is our responsibility to ensure that we know the rules of what we are doing, and if we don't to find out the answer.

 

Not that I wouldn't try to use a grey area to get me out of jail................

[Jesse]

I still believe all the information is there, yes some of it is hard to find but as drivers it is our responsibility to ensure that we know the rules of what we are doing, and if we don't to find out the answer.

 

Not that I wouldn't try to use a grey area to get me out of jail................

 

I live in the grey area and i love it

[Gareth Dalzell]

I still believe all the information is there, yes some of it is hard to find but as drivers it is our responsibility to ensure that we know the rules of what we are doing, and if we don't to find out the answer.

 

Not that I wouldn't try to use a grey area to get me out of jail................

 

I agree we have a responsibility, but I,m pretty thick when it comes interpreting some of this information. There is no IQ test for taking a driving test or for retraining and the information should be available at the most basic level or they should issue updates to each driver when something major changes. There's no way some old grunter is going to be surfing the internet for a forum to ask about operators licenses and changes to weights and towing requirements yet they will still prosecute me - (I mean someone:blushing:) for not knowing.

 

Anyhow we've invited VOSA to come out to our next trade association meeting for a face to face wrestle with the new regs. We've had to submit a list of questions ahead to so they can have the answers for us. Should be interesting:biggrin: