Q I use a platform truck with an unladen weight of
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2 tons 9 cwt and the road tax is calculated on that weight. If I add a demountable container to carry livestock, which. will make the unladen weight about 4 Ions will I have to retax my vehicle and will I have to have a heavy goods vehicle driving licence?
A You will not have to pay extra Excise duty by using a livestock container provided it is not used for any other purpose than the carriage of livestock. Provision for excluding the weight of such a receptacle is made in paragraph 3 (I) (c) of Schedule 6 to the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971.
However, hgv driving licences are governed by the provision of the Road Traffic Act 1972. Section 194 gives the method of calculating the weight of motor vehicles and trailers for the purpose of this Act. The unladen weight of a vehicle must include the weight of the vehicle and all the parts which are necessary to or ordinarily used with the vehicle when working on a road.
As your vehicle is a platform truck then the container can hardly be described as "necessary to its use. But only you can decide whether it is "ordinarily used" with it. There is no definition of this term given in the Act. It would be as well to enquire from your local traffic area office informing the LA's staff of the number of times which you intend to use the container to carry livestock to establish whether an hgv driving licence would be required.