Carrying a spare tractor
Page 42
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We operate a fleet of articulated lorries and keep one to act as a recovery vehicle. It is a two-axle tractor with a tandem-axle step-frame trailer equipped with ramps and winch. It is used only for recovery work and is taxed at the £75 rate.
When one of our artics was damaged at a place some 80 miles away we sent the recovery vehicle to deal with it. On the trailer we loaded a threeaxle tractor unit so that it could take the damaged semi-trailer to a place for repair while the damaged tractor was carried back on the recovery vehicle.
In a ministry check en route, a traffic examiner said the tractor unit could not be carried on the recovery vehicle because it was not itself broken down. We always considered that a recovery vehicle could carry any equipment necessary for the recovery operation.
The traffic examiner said there was a tax offence and the driver should keep tachograph records. Because the tractor being carried was taxed for use with only triaxle trailers it could not be coupled to the tandemaxle recovery trailer.
Was our use of the recovery vehicle in these circumstances within the law ? Should the driver have kept tacho records ?