Kingpin load
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A Ministry plating certificate for a semitrailer gives the axle weights and the gross weight. If each axle weight is 9,150kg and the gross weight is 27,690kg does that mean that, by deducting the total axle weights from the gross weight, the maximum king pin loading is 9,390kg ?
1 A Subtracting the total of the permitted trailer axle weights does not produce a "maximum king pin load" as you indicate. It gives you the actual weight which should not be exceeded on the king pin if the axles were loaded to their maximum capacity and the trailer's permitted gross weight was not to be exceeded.
Generally, to allow some tolerance in load distribution, the permitted king pin loading will be higher than the gross weight minus the axle weights. This is needed to cover situations where the trailer is loaded to capacity but the axles are not.
The maximum weight designed to be imposed by a semi-trailer on a drawing vehicle should be recorded on the maker's plate fitted to the trailer.
Category rnixup
We run a large number of 7,490kg Iveco Ford Cargos and use them to tow small trailers.
I understand that driving licence categories are in an EU Directive and a driver with a Category Cl+E licence can drive a truck and trailer as long as the combination does not exceed 8.25 tonnes. I believe a 7,490kg truck can tow a trailer not over 760kg plated weight and a 6,000kg crew-cab Cargo we also have can tow a trailer not over 2,250kg. But the 7,49014 Cargo cannot tow the bigger trailer even if the Cargo is empty. Is that right ?
Some of our trailers have a plated gross weight of 900kg and the local police say they cannot be pulled by the 7,490kg Cargo unless the driver holds a C+E licence.
Is that right ?
Driving licence vehicle categories originate in the EC Driving Licence Directives and in British law they are listed in the Motor Vehicles (I)riving Licences) Regulations 1987 and, in the case of heavier vehicles, the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Large Goods and Passenger-Carrying Vehicles) Regulations 1990.
When Category Cl+E was first introduced, in June 1990, no combination weight limit was attached to it. As a result a person could drive a 7.5tonne truck with a car driver's licence and tow a trailer of any weight without the need for an HGV licence—a situation previously illegal.
This error was corrected in January 1993 when the description of Category Cl+E was amended by adding a combination weight limit and it now reads as follows: "Combination of motor vehicle in Category Cl and a trailer with a maximum authorised mass exceeding 750kg where the maximum authorised mass of the combination does not exceed 8.25 tonnes".
Category Cl is a goods vehicle with a maximum authorised mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 7.5 tonnes. Maximum authorised mass is generally the vehicle's plated gross weight.
You are correct in saying the holder of a Category B licence (which also covers Cl+E) can drive the 7,490kg truck while towing a 760kg trailer and the 6,000kg Cargo while drawing a 2,250kg trailer.
You are also correct in saying the 7,490kg truck when unladen cannot be driven solely on a Category B licence while towing the 2,250kg trailer.
These Regulations—and the EC Directives—are concerned only with permitted gross weight which is taken from a Ministry or maker's plate. If a vehicle does not have such a plate a notional grass weight is obtained by multiplying the unladen weight by a number specified in other regulations.
If drawing a trailer by a 7,490kg truck takes the combination over the 8.25tonne combination limit you have a problem because there is no driving licence category to cover such a combination. The police were wrong about needing a C+E licence to drive it.
Category C covers the driving of a goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes, including the drawing of a single-axled trailer with a plated gross weight not exceeding 5.0 tonnes (or 750kg in the case of any other trailer). Consequently, Category C does not authorise the driving of a truck with a plated gross weight of 7,500kg or less.
Category C+E refers to a Category C vehicle drawing a trailer exceeding the above weights. Here too the category applies only to motor vehicles exceeding 7,500kg.
While the law says that a person must not drive a class of motor vehicle on a road without a licence authorising that class, there is no class available for a 7,490kg truck forming part of a combination exceeding 8.25 tonnes. If a driver does not have a licence for the class of vehicle he drives it is also possible the vehicle's insurance will not cover him.