SHORT JOURNEYS
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• We have an operating centre bordering a main road and plan to expand our business by buying a property on the other side of the road. It would be very useful if we could use an untaxed vehicle and a non-HGV licence holder to move trucks and trailers between the two yards.
Can you tell me if there is still an exemption from road tax and HGV driving licences for lorries that are driven less than six miles a week on public roads?
• The general exemption for vehicles travelling less than six miles a week on public roads was abolished some years ago and replaced with a more restrictive exemption.
The exemption, which is in Schedule 2 of the Vehicles Excise and Registration Act 1994, now applies only to vehicles used for agricultural, horticultural or forestry purposes, which are only used on public roads to pass between land occupied by the same person; the distance travelled on public roads between those areas must not exceed 1.5km.
Note that there is no longer a weekly limit on the total distance that is travelled.
The exemption from having to have an HGV licence still exists, although it is now stated in metric terms.
Regulations 7(4) and 51(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 state that HGV licensing requirements do not apply to a goods vehicle that is used only for passing from land in the occupation of the keeper of the vehicle to other land in the occupation of that person, and it is not used for more than 9.7km a week on public roads.
A vehicle covered by this exemption can be driven by the holder of a Category B licence.
Remember that even on these short distances the statutory minimum age for driving applies, and the driver of a vehicle over 7.5 tonnes permissible maximum weight must be at least 21 years old.