a am concerned about a vehicle which has an unladen weight
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of 1 ton 134 cwt and is DoE plated for 3.4 tons gross. According to a publication issued by a vehicle manufacturer, vehicles which do not exceed 14 tons unladen or 34 tons plated gross weight are exempt from operators' licensing and do not require an annual test conducted by the DoE, only a test similar to that required for private vehicles.
After checking, the local police agree with this but both my local goods vehicle testing stations say that any goods vehicle over 14 tons unladen irrespective of gross plated weight must be tested by them. Can you tell me who is correct? If the manufacturer is right, is it possible to get a vehicle presently plated at 4 tons gross, replated to 34 tons gross to take advantage of this as 34 tons would be adequate for the work I am doing anyway?
AThe regulations are quite clear in
specifying that all rigid goods vehicles weighing over 30cwt unladen must be annually tested at goods vehicle test stations. There is, in this case, no mention of the 3 5 tons gross plated weight which is used in the case of operators' licensing. Your local goods vehicle test station is correct in saying that your vehicle needs to be tested annually by them.
As to your last question, it is most unlikely that a manufacturer would downplate a vehicle simply to avoid compliance with the law, for example to bring a vehicle below the plated weight limit at which an operator's licence would be needed. There would need to be some technical reason for doing so or some material change would have had to be made to the vehicle specification such as fitting lower-ply tyres or reducing the capacity of the rear springs to justify such an action. You realize, of course, that the DoE would be aware that such changes had been made and it would not take kindly to. such action intended purely to evade legislation.