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Q I use a platform truck with an
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unladen weight of 21 tons 9 clvt 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 tons will / have to retax my vehicle and will I need a heavy goods vehicle drivers licence? AYou 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) (e) of Schedule 6 to the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971.
However, hgv driving licences are governed by the provisions of the Road Traffic At 1972. Section 194 gives the methccl of calculating the weight of motor vehicles and trailers for the purposes of this Act. Briefly, 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 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 inquire from your local traffic office, informing the LA's staff of the number of times which you intend to use the container to carry livestock, to esta lish whether an hgv driving licence ould be required.