New Towing Regs - Jan 2013

[ROG.]

Yes but I like most dont have a tractive unit or a semi trailer.

I wondered if that meant an articulated type of vehicle !!

[gensetsteve]

I wondered if that meant an articulated type of vehicle !!

 

I know someone that has started a company making van flat bed things with a fifth wheel and trailer to carry two cars on the back the tractor would be under 3500kg and trailer would be 3500kg so tacho needed but no operators licence. The idea was to exploit a loop hole in the law I guess they just plugged that one.

Its easy to see who complicated terminology and rumours lead to people thinking different things.

[ROG.]

Do you need a goods vehicle operator's licence? | Business Link

 

Do you need a goods vehicle operator's licence?

 

For a motor vehicle and trailer combination, you will need a goods vehicle operator's licence if:

 

in the case where both the motor vehicle and the trailer(s) are plated, the total of their gross plated weights is more than 3,500 kilograms

 

Does that mean a B category vehicle with a GVW of 2800 and a trailer MAM plated at 2700 (1100 unladen) making a total of 5500 would need an operator licence?

[Peter]

Vosa have said there is no requirement to put vehicles of less than 3500 mam onto an o license, regardless of what they are towing. Can't reference that off the top my head but I did look into it a little while ago.

[ROG.]

Vosa have said there is no requirement to put vehicles of less than 3500 mam onto an o license, regardless of what they are towing. Can't reference that off the top my head but I did look into it a little while ago.

Need a link to that please

[ROG.]

I asked this question of an expert and got a reply

 

Q

Business use with a 4x4 GVW 2800 and a trailer 1100 unladen and MAM of 3000 = O licence?

 

A

O Licence exempt; dual purpose vehicles and the trailer they draw do not require an o-licence. Had it been a transit or similar then it would have required an O-licence when used for hire and reward carriage (not ‘own account’ work). The bit about trailers with an ULWT exceeding 1020 kg count, those below do not, went in December last year. All trailers now count.

 

 

You need to look in the definitions of 1986 C&U Regs for what a ‘Dual Purpose’ vehicle is.

[Ashes_Firewood]

This baffles my brain. I've never been able to work out what I can tow apart from the 750kg limit which the smaller trailer falls under but would be handy to use a larger one.

 

Passed test after 1997. Deliver in either a Landrover Defender 90 TDI or Nissan Terrano 2.7 TDI SWB. Whats the maximum I can tow on the back assuming there's only 2 passengers and no other loading in the vehicle...? Is it 3500kg minus the weight of the vehicle & passengers?

[treequip]

750kg

 

The load and passengers are not relevant

[Rich2484]

Ok. So what about having an agri licence. Passed my tractor licence in college, done a trailer one and that goes upto 35t total. Tractor and trailer. Does this part also count for vehicles?

 

Seems that grey areas are going to be seen on this, and if you actually get pulled for it are the police actually going to know themselves or are they going to guess and make you get weighed anyway?

 

Only been pulled once in a tractor and that was when a trailer wheel came off with police following. They just looked at it all and asked what was in the trailer? Wheat was the reply and off they toddled when recover turned up to fix trailer.

 

Lucky chippers don't weigh much over a ton then. So long as it is being pulled by something that doesn't bring the weight up?

 

But then the playing ignorance always works well as these things are never reported in news that they are changing the rules and how many people would know about any change? Dvla don't send out letters telling you they are changing laws or adding to then so I'm sorry officer I was never made aware of this!

[ROG.]

This baffles my brain. I've never been able to work out what I can tow apart from the 750kg limit which the smaller trailer falls under but would be handy to use a larger one.

 

Passed test after 1997. Deliver in either a Landrover Defender 90 TDI or Nissan Terrano 2.7 TDI SWB. Whats the maximum I can tow on the back assuming there's only 2 passengers and no other loading in the vehicle...? Is it 3500kg minus the weight of the vehicle & passengers?

Land rover defender 90 specs

Unladen/kerb = 1750

GVW = 2400

Towing capacity = 3500

On a B licence you can tow a trailer with a max MAM of 1100

 

I think the Terrano is similar in the weights so find the GVW of it and deduct that from 3500 to give you the max trailer MAM for B licence towing

 

Remember it is the MAM of the trailer and not the actual weight the trailer weighs at the time of towing it