Lorry & licence weight limits

Discussion on Advanced and Defensive Driving and training for LGV, HGV, PCV, Minibus's etc type vehicles.

Postby Angus » Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:25 pm


A recent article in Horse and Hounds revealed that at an informal weight check on horse lorries, over half of 7.5 tonne lorries were over weight.

This didn't come as much of a surprise, as a new lorry can be over 6 tonnes dry, before you've added 3 horses, fuel, water, tack, pasengers etc.

Now I always assumed that this was a licensing issue and if you had a heavy lorry you needed an HGV licence (or hoped you didn't get stopped - probably more likely in the horsey community). My wife suggested however that it was a loading issue and that a 7.5 tonne lorry should not exceed that weight.

Can someone shed some light on this?
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Postby daz6215 » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:17 pm


You can drive upto 7.5t on a cat B licence if issued before 1st Jan 97, you may also add a trailer upto 750kg, after that date it is 3.5t on a cat B licence, once above 3.5t it is now cat C1 and an extra test including medical, theory and initial driver cpc is required in certain circumstances, once above 7.5t cat C then applies and again a medical, theory and initial driver cpc may be a requirement. Ultimately it's the driver responsibility to ensure that they comply with licencing and of course weight limits, it is their licence that may be lost if they dont!
Just to add, if the vehicle is plated to 7.5t then that must not be exceeded no matter which licence you hold!
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Postby ROG » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:57 pm


daz6215 wrote:You can drive upto 7.5t on a cat B licence if issued before 1st Jan 97, you may also add a trailer upto 750kg, after that date it is 3.5t on a cat B licence, once above 3.5t it is now cat C1 and an extra test including medical, theory and initial driver cpc is required in certain circumstances, once above 7.5t cat C then applies and again a medical, theory and initial driver cpc may be a requirement. Ultimately it's the driver responsibility to ensure that they comply with licencing and of course weight limits, it is their licence that may be lost if they dont!
Just to add, if the vehicle is plated to 7.5t then that must not be exceeded no matter which licence you hold!

Any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes has always been above a cat B licence no matter when it was obtained so no-one has ever been allowed to drive a 7.5 tonnes truck on a cat B licence

Current B licence holders can also tow trailers over 750 kgs MAM but certain rules must be adhered to

Pre 97 licence holders also have C1+E which entitles them to tow a 750 kg trailer with a 7.5 or tow to a maximum MAM of 8.25 tonnes which can mean a 5 tonne MAM C1 towing a 3.25 tonne MAM trailer

Those who passed cat B before 1997 had other free categories added which now require additional tests to obtain them

To drive a cat C1 vehicle and overload it is not a licence issue but an overloading issue as you rightly stated
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Postby ROG » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:58 pm


Angus wrote:Now I always assumed that this was a licensing issue and if you had a heavy lorry you needed an HGV licence

As there are now no HGV licences only LGV ones then that is not correct as there is LGV C1 to LGV C+E
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Postby daz6215 » Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:51 pm


ROG wrote:Any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes has always been above a cat B licence no matter when it was obtained so no-one has ever been allowed to drive a 7.5 tonnes truck on a cat B licence


Agreed, but it's pedantics, I should have been clearer in my wording in that the C1 was also given with the cat B prior the 97 date!

ROG wrote:Current B licence holders can also tow trailers over 750 kgs MAM but certain rules must be adhered to


Not if they are driving with a laden vehicle weighing the 7.5t which is what I wrote!

ROG wrote:Pre 97 licence holders also have C1+E which entitles them to tow a 750 kg trailer with a 7.5 or tow to a maximum MAM of 8.25 tonnes which can mean a 5 tonne MAM C1 towing a 3.25 tonne MAM trailer


Agreed, that wasn't the question though really

ROG wrote:Those who passed cat B before 1997 had other free categories added which now require additional tests to obtain them


Isn't that what I wrote?
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Postby Angus » Sun Nov 06, 2011 7:08 pm


daz6215 wrote:
Just to add, if the vehicle is plated to 7.5t then that must not be exceeded no matter which licence you hold!


I think that's the answer I was looking for.

Thanks
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Postby ROG » Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:31 pm


daz6215 wrote: I should have been clearer in my wording

Which is why I wrote what I did
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Postby daz6215 » Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:39 pm


ROG wrote:
daz6215 wrote: I should have been clearer in my wording

Which is why I wrote what I did


The reason I wrote it that was was to avoid confusion for anyone who doesn't understand licence categories and to keep it simple! hopefully avoiding long winded replies that would in essence say the same thing! :lol:
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Postby Singvogel » Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:21 pm


All of the above just goes to show why people who hire 7.5 tonne trucks to do a house removal for example just can't believe they have such a low payload.
We had a Mercedes 814 double sleeper cab that had a max payload of 1.75 tonnes. We could carry the same weight (but not volume) with a Sprinter and a 2 tonne trailer
7.5 tonners are great as 'bread vans' i.e. for bulky rather than dense goods.
For a decent horse box you need to start with a 12 tonner.
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