Q One of my fitters who has a Class 3 hgv
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driving licence tells me that he is allowed to drive artic units on the road providing they are not drawing trailers. Is this correct please?
A An artic tractive unit which is not drawing a trailer and which has not more than four wheels in contact with the road may be driven on a Class 3 hgv licence (or Class 3a if it has automatic transmission).
An hgv driving licence is required under Part IV of the Road Traffic Act, to drive a heavy goods vehicle on a road. A heavy goods vehicle is defined in Section 124 of the Act and this includes "a heavy motor car" which is, in general, a vehicle over 3' tons unladen in which description an articulated unit falls.
However, Section 190(a) of the Act lays down that an artic tractive unit may be deemed to be a goods vehicle in its own right despite the fact that it cannot carry goods without the trailer.
Thus, without its trailer it falls within Classes 2, 2a, 3a of the hgv licence classification.
In that case, if the unit has more than four wheels in contact with the road, a Class 2 or 2a licence would be appropriate, but if it has only four wheels in contact then a Class 3 or 3a licence is sufficient.