AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Special types regulations, 3

10th May 1980, Page 51
10th May 1980
Page 51
Page 51, 10th May 1980 — Special types regulations, 3
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

HEAVY MOTOR CARS used under the Motor Vehicles (Authorisation of Special Types) General Order 1979 must comply with all the Construction and Use Regulations requirements except those which deal with springs, parking brake efficiency, minimum power to weight ratio, overall width of vehicle and load, certain parts of the Regulations which deal with braking efficiency, tyres, wings and the laden weight of vehicles as laid down in Regulations 87 to 95 inclusive.

Exemptions for trailers under the Special Types Order are to tho:.e parts of the C and U Regulations which deal with overall length, springs, diameter of wheels fitted with solid tyres, overall width, certain requirements concerning brakes, those concerning tyres, wings and weight limits.

Locomotives and tractors used under the Order need not comply with the Regulations which deal with springs, power to weight ratio, overall width, and those concerning the weight of trailers drawn by them and the laden weight of vehicles and trailers.

Although it is perfectly legitimate to take advantage of all the special exemptions outlined above, the safety of the vehicle's crew and other road users must always be considered. Apart from the moral obligation for a company to ensure its vehicles cause no danger, Regulation 97 of the Construction and Use Regulations requires every vehicle and its load to be in such a condition that no danger is caused.

Breach of this regulation carries a maximum penalty of a £400 fine, obligatory endorsement of the offender's driving licence, and he may be disqualified.

Vehicles which run solely under the Special Types Order are exempt from the testing and plating regulations. Vehicles which operate under both the Construction and Use Regulations and the Special Types Order must be plated and tested in the normal way. Locomotives and tractors, that is the vehicles not constructed to carry a load but used rather for hauling, are exempt from plating and testing even though they comply with the C and U Regulations. This type of vehicle is used extensively on abnormal load work, so the exemption is worth bearing in mind.

Schedule 8 of the Construction and Use Regulations contains four paragraphs setting out conditions which must be complied with when vehicles are used to carry long or wide loads or fixed applicances which project.

Paragraph 1 relates to infor

ming the police of the movement of the load; paragraph 2 deals with carrying an attendant; 3 to exhibiting marker boards and 4 with making a projection easily visible. Similar provisions are made in the Special Types Order so it may be as well to consider them together.

Notice to the police must be given if (a) the overall width of the vehicle exceeds 2.9m (just over 9 feet 6 inches); (b) where the length of the vehicle and its load exceeds 18.3m (a fraction over 60ft) (c) where the load is carried on a trailer or trailers or an artic combination and the total length of the trailer(s) exceeds 18.3m

(d) where a combination of load, vehicles and trailers ex

ceeds 25.9m (almost 85ft); (e) where any forward or rearward projection exceeds 3.05m (1 Oft); (f) where the gross weight exceeds 76,200kg (75 tons).

The notice must be given to the police of each district through which the vehicle is going to pass two clear days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holidays, Christmas Day or Good Friday) before the journey starts.

Incidentally, Saturday was added to the days which do not count for the periods of notice by the 1979 Order. The police may dispense with the requirements for two clear days' notice and where a good relationship has been built up between the police and an operator who specialises in the movement of abnormal loads, the police will often accept a phone call a few hours before the movement of a load which it is urgently required to move.

Notice must normally be given on a form set out in Schedule 2 of the Special Types Order and this form is represented here. It is evidently permissible for the notice to be sent by telex as in the space provided for a rough sketch showing the outline of the loaded vehicle there is a note saying this sketch may be omitted if the notice is sent by telex.

Apart from any variation in the time, date or route of the journey which has been ordered by the police and any delay occasioned by a policeman directing that the vehicle be diverted off the road and parked for a period to avoid undue traffic congestion or in the interests of road safety, the vehicle must only be used in accordance with the particulars given in the notice.

More about the carriage of abnormal loads and in particular the remaining three paragraphs of Schedule 8, in the next article.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus