Know your limits
Page 51
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"Ir achographs have to be fitted and used
I in goods vehicles where the "maxi
mum permitted weight" exceeds 3.5 tonnes. An LGV driving licence will be required where the vehicle has a "maximum permitted weight" which exceeds 7.5 tonnes. But drivers and operators can be in trouble if vehicles are pulling trailers. In a recent case, a Mercedes 2080 van was towing a single-axle trailer.
The vehicle was not fitted with a tacho and the manufacturer's plate on the van showed the following: :_i Train weight: 4,600kg;
rJ Gross weight: 2,600kg;
The manufacturer's plate on the trailer showed a permissible weight of 900kg. The police prosecuted because the vehi cle was not fitted with a tachograph on the basis that the maximum permissible train weight of the vehicle when drawing a trailer was 4,600 kg.
The court disagreed. The maximum permitted weight was the gross weight of the vehicle plus the gross weight of the actual trailer it was pulling; in this case 2,600kg plus 900kg = 3,500kg.
It follows that if a vehicle with a permitted gross weight of 7.5 tonnes is pulling a trailer, then the driver must always have an LGV driving licence because the permitted gross weight of the vehicle plus the trailer must necessarily be above 7.5 tonnes.
Finally it is the permitted weight which counts, not the actual weight being carried.
by Chris Charlesworth