New Towing Regs - Jan 2013

[ROG.]

Erm,

Actually and quite incredibly, trailer plated weights only apply to the actual weight of the trailer and load carried.

So an empty IW 14 foot flat bed plated at 3500kg but say , only 900kg tare, can be towed by a post 1997 car licence holder, assuming the car is capable of towing 900kg and that the gross train mass does not exceed 3500kg.

So say a car plated at 2400kg GVW (like wor Galaxy was) and properly legal to tow 1600kg would be legal for a 1997 car licence holder to tow the empty IW.

BUT only a legal payload of 200kg could be carried.

2400car +900trailer +200payload = 3500kg=maxed out.

This anomoly regarding trailer plated weight is a weird one!

As in respect of any vehicle, the plated weight rules, not the actual.

Otherwise I could drive a HGV horse, without a trailer, assuming it weighs less than 7500kg actual.

But I cant since it wil lbe plated at 44,000kg (for instance)

Gibber

mutter

& twitch

 

Sorry mate but you are mistaken

 

The B licence towing rules are quite clear - it is the total of the GVW/MAMs that are relevant in regards to the 3500 limit

 

A car with a GVW of 2400 and a trailer with a MAM of 3500 = 5900 total which is well over 3500

[gensetsteve]

I read somewhere in the last few weeks that vosa are now weighing vehicle and trailer if its under 3500kg you may be ok irrespective of whats on the trailer plate. Do some reasearch and dont listen to what I say I am normally nosey but wrong. We have a trailer in the yard which was plated down to 2000kg so it could go behind a double cabs. Not by us we only have mansize 4x4s

[ROG.]

ROG, given that you clearly have a thorough knowledge of the trailer towing regulations, please could you clarify for my situation, where I hold pre-'97 driving licence and my wife's is post '97 (I can imagine it would also apply where, say, the boss has a pre-'97 licence and the lad doesn't).

 

I tow a 2.3ton plated plant trailer which weighs 0.3tons, using a vehicle with a 2.0ton unladen weight and a towing rating of 1.8tons.

 

My understanding is that, with my pre-'97 licence, I can load the trailer to 1.5tons, thus towing the allowable 1.8tons, the limit imposed by the towing vehicle rather than the trailer. This gives a train weight of 3.8tons.

 

Am I correct in thinking that my wife's post-'97 licence does not allow her to tow the trailer, even empty and weighing only 0.3tons, because it fails on both counts, i.e. is plated at 2.3tons and she is limited to a plated 1.5tons and has an allowable train weight of 3.8tons, exceeding the allowable 3.5tons? However, if the trailer was down-rated on the plate to 1.5tons she could tow it, empty or loaded with up to 1.2tons as this would then comply on both plated weight and maximum possible train weight?

 

If this is correct, it suggests that sending the lad to fetch the empty trailer, weighing well under his allowable 750kg (or more depending on towing vehicle), is still illegal if the trailer is plated to higher than his licence allows?

 

If this is the case, are you allowed to have multiple, interchangeable plates for a trailer, from its maximum safe design limit down to a lower rating to comply with a restricted licence?

 

Alec

Correct for your B+E licence

 

Plated weights cannot be interchanged at will

 

For the B licence holder

You have vehicle unladen of 2000 so that means a max trailer MAM of 1500 BUT ..... you have not told me what the vehicle GVW is....

I need the vehicle GVW to add it to the 1500 trailer MAM and then see if it breaks the max 3500 combined weight GVW/MAM rule of 3500

[volvo]

Correct for your B+E licence

 

Plated weights cannot be interchanged at will

 

 

Trailer plates can be downgraded at any time but must be rivoted on or similar.

[ROG.]

I read somewhere in the last few weeks that vosa are now weighing vehicle and trailer if its under 3500kg you may be ok irrespective of whats on the trailer plate. Do some reasearch and dont listen to what I say I am normally nosey but wrong. We have a trailer in the yard which was plated down to 2000kg so it could go behind a double cabs. Not by us we only have mansize 4x4s

If VOSA are just looking for commercial set ups over 3500 without using tachos then that might explain it but unlikely because that would go on the total of the plated weights and not actual weights

 

I am at a loss as to why those trailers you had at 3500 would need to be downplated to 2000 ????

 

If that was not for B licence towing then someone wasted time and effort doing it

[ROG.]

Trailer plates can be downgraded at any time.

Yes they can if the trailer manufacturer is still operating but they cannot have two different plates and be interchanged at will depending on the licence being used at the time

[volvo]

The council downplated there trailers to 2000 kg. It allowed there transit type vehicles to pull them within the law.

That was at least 12 years ago.

[ROG.]

SORRY my previous post to you should have read....

Correct for your B+E licence

 

Plated weights cannot be interchanged at will

 

For the B licence holder

You have vehicle unladen of 2000 with a proposed max trailer MAM of 1500 BUT ..... you have not told me what the vehicle GVW is....

I need the vehicle GVW to add it to the 1500 trailer MAM and then see if it breaks the max 3500 combined weight GVW/MAM rule of 3500

[volvo]

ROG you type to fast.lol

[gensetsteve]

If VOSA are just looking for commercial set ups over 3500 without using tachos then that might explain it but unlikely because that would go on the total of the plated weights and not actual weights

 

I am at a loss as to why those trailers you had at 3500 would need to be downplated to 2000 ????

 

If that was not for B licence towing then someone wasted time and effort doing it

 

I think it is a 2600kg gross trailer and the dc only towed 2000kg.