Towing over 3.5 ton

[ukracer]

Is this EU or UK law?

 

[Shox Dr]

your pritty much screwed if you want to use a 7.5 T for moveing a 4.5 T digger. the best payload + body allowance i think you'll find is around 5T . so with a very very light bed with no loading ramps sides or anything you chould in theory chucki it on the back of one of the jap offerings with no buckets or mud.

you'd then need to tow a trailer to put the ramps and the buckets in. and it' be a track the machene up the trailer then up ramps onto the 7.5T

my suggestion would ether be buy a smaller machene or buy a bigger one to make the hasstel of moveing it worth it

Explains a lot, I was watching a bloke loading a 360 as you describe a few weeks ago.

 

[Pete.]

We move our 4.5t machines about on a small articulated 7.5 tonner. Needs a digital tacho and our regular driver has his cpc but if you are towing the machine to a job that you are doing yourself you can do that without the cpc. If you're just delivering it for use you Ned cpc or get a big fine.

 

[Kent]

So when I deliver work on my twin wheel trailer towed by my L200 pick up- I thought I was OK up to 30 miles radius?
I haven't taken a trailer test and I have no tachometer. I passed my test at a time I could drive 7 1/2 tonne and tow and have

 

[Bigjoe]

You will need a drivers cpc but also a national operators cpc as well as a suitable operating Base,oh and £7500 kept in the bank at all times for vehicle maintenance plus 6-8 weekly inspection of the vehicle plus all the usual.


Sorry to be a party pooper but I've worked in this area for a long time and dvsa are VERY strict on this now.

 

[colnerov]

Is this EU or UK law?

Hi, EU and UK law, as we are still part of the EU for the next two years or so.

But I don't think we should go down that particular road, in this discussion, that way lays danger.

Colin

 

[colnerov]

So when I deliver work on my twin wheel trailer towed by my L200 pick up- I thought I was OK up to 30 miles radius?
I haven't taken a trailer test and I have no tachometer. I passed my test at a time I could drive 7 1/2 tonne and tow and have

Hi, you have the suitable licence. If you're operating your vehicle, trailer and load over 3500kgs in pursuant of your business then as Bigjoe says.

Colin

 

[Pete.]

You don't need cpc if you're towing plant to a place where you're using that plant yourself. Our delivery driver has cpc but that is because he just delivers and nothing else. The guys who tow stuff to their own jobs don't have it.

 

[pedrobedro]

You don't need cpc if you're towing plant to a place where you're using that plant yourself. Our delivery driver has cpc but that is because he just delivers and nothing else. The guys who tow stuff to their own jobs don't have it.

The question is to their own jobs for themselves or to work they are carrying out for other people ?

 

[rory1]

This topic has been done to death on all of the agricultural, plant and haulage/transport forums. There's pages and pages and pages of it.

 

[knighty]

You will need a drivers cpc but also a national operators cpc as well as a suitable operating Base,oh and £7500 kept in the bank at all times for vehicle maintenance plus 6-8 weekly inspection of the vehicle plus all the usual.
Sorry to be a party pooper but I've worked in this area for a long time and dvsa are VERY strict on this now.

when I got my operator's license only needed £3500 in company account at time of application, they didn't do any checks after that (was a while ago tho)

I was on 6 week checks, but did lowe miles (25k/year in that truck) so changed it to 8 week checks pretty quick, and then once I had a bit of paperwork to show it was well maintained etc.. had it changed to 10 weeks

 

[colnerov]

This topic has been done to death on all of the agricultural, plant and haulage/transport forums. There's pages and pages and pages of it.

Hi, that may be true but if you don't go on those forums you're not going to know. Plenty of people have driven for years and are oblivious of regulations changing or being tightened up. Kent in this thread is an example, his business is making gates and fences not running a transport operation so is not likely to come across the information in the normal course of events and so just carries on doing what he has always done, albeit now wrong, possibly.

Colin

 

[rory1]

I wasn't complaining about it, just letting the OP and subsequent posters know that if they so wish they could search using their preferred search engine and read many in depth threads that would compliment this thread

 

[Kent]

Is it wrong though? Really? if so where do I find this out for fact? There is much rubbish on forums spoken ( sorry but that's just a fact).
I need to know for sure who tells me
Frankly I am getting ready to scream. I mean I was driving a seven and a half ton at 18-19 year old
This country will get nothing done if we don't dump a load of this

 

[colnerov]

I wasn't complaining about it, just letting the OP and subsequent posters know that if they so wish they could search using their preferred search engine and read many in depth threads that would compliment this thread

Hi, I realise that, I wasn't accusing, If some ones knowledge is sketchy on the subject then reading pages of different peoples interpretation of the rules cam sometimes be unhelpful and I can understand why they give it up as a bad idea and carry on regardless. Not right but understandable.

Colin

 

[Kent]

According to government website my licence having been issued before a certain date entities me to 8250 kg in combination as long as I am within legal tow for my vehicle

No place have I found mention of use at work though I think there are then restrictions

Wondering who to phone now

 

[colnerov]

Is it wrong though? Really? if so where do I find this out for fact? There is much rubbish on forums spoken ( sorry but that's just a fact).
I need to know for sure who tells me
Frankly I am getting ready to scream. I mean I was driving a seven and a half ton at 18-19 year old
This country will get nothing done if we don't dump a load of this

Hi, You could do worse than do an introductory module of a drivers CPC course, They will tell you general stuff like how to decipher licence categories and codes, the weight plate on you vehicle, basic driving and working time directive hours. I know you may think a lot of this won't apply to you but there's time built into the day for you to ask questions specific to your own circumstances. I realise the time and cost may be an issue but you would be getting a lot of the right information out of it. Another idea is to contact @Justme because he will know and seems approachable and could give an informed opinion.

Colin

 

[the snooper]

According to government website my licence having been issued before a certain date entities me to 8250 kg in combination as long as I am within legal tow for my vehicle

No place have I found mention of use at work though I think there are then restrictions

Wondering who to phone now

copied from commercial fleet .org

The law states that the weight of the trailer must be added to the gross vehicle weight of the van.
So if the van has a gvw of 3.5 tonnes and it’s towing a two-tonne trailer, the vehicle effectively weighs 5.5 tonnes and must have a tachograph – and you’ll need an O-licence to operate it too.
There are exceptions to this rule and the main two that may apply to Fleet Van readers are:

• If the vehicle is not being used for hire and reward
• If the vehicle doesn’t travel more than 50km (33 miles) from its base.

Van fleet operators could also fall foul of the law if they don’t adequately check drivers’ licences too.
Staff who passed their tests before January 1, 1997, will be allowed to drive vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes gvw on their ordinary licences, but those who passed after that date are limited to 3.5 tonnes.
Therefore, if a 3.5-tonne van has a trailer fitted, it will go over that limit and the younger person won’t be entitled to drive.
The regulations stipulating which drivers are qualified to tow trailers were amended in 1997 so that anyone who passed their driving test since requires a Category B or BE entitlement.
Changes to the rules from January 13, 2013, will further restrict the weight that drivers qualified after 1997 can tow without a separate qualification.
Still unsure if you need a tachograph?
Try our Tachograph Compliance Tool

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[printcom]

I have checked out the other forums – it just gets confusing after a while.

Now, I have just been online to check my license restrictions. The one that interests me is Category: C1E

You can drive vehicles between 3,500kg and 7,500kg carrying no more than 8 passengers and a driver with a trailer weighing more than 750kg and combined weight of vehicle and trailer can’t be over 12,000kg.

So, if I am reading it right I can tow up to 4.5 ton(including trailer) behind a 7.5 tonner – (subject to plated weights)

Its looking like I may have to go down the operator’s license route. If I apply for a “restricted license” I believe I don’t need to do the drivers CPS or the Transports managers CPS but I do need to comply with the maintenance checks – this is the bit I am unsure of – can I do these myself or do I have to outsource these to a third party, please bear in mind if I am only using this for my own use its going to be extremely low mileage.

 

[overload]

If I have been reading your posts right, you have C1 entitlement but C1E on provisional. If so, you will need to do a another driving test for C1E.