Q We are in the self-drive hire business
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and are often asked by our customers if we could move caravans for them. The type of work offered is to take caravans from our industrial area to a coastal site or alternatively as a residence to various inland sites. Could I do this work on trade plates? If not, what procedure would I have to adopt to get a licence?
AIn effect you are proposing towing
trailer-caravans for hire or reward and as the hauling of goods comes within the category of carriage of goods for licensing purposes you would need to obtain a carrier's licence. You should write to your local Licensing Authority for an official explanatory leaflet on the application procedure to be adopted.
We presume you had in mind using one of the vehicles operating your self-drive hire work providing, of course, it was of adequate capacity. In this case the vehicle towing the trailer would need to be licensed as a goods vehicle.
There would, of course, be the alternative of loading a trailer caravan on to a goods vehicle, for example, a special artic, in which case the carrier's licence would be limited to the goods vehicle itself. But in neither case could trailers be legally moved in connection with the type of work to which you refer for hire or reward on trade plates.