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Q I have a Bedford KC with a plaVorm "X body
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with an unladen and taxed weight of 2 tons 9ewt and a gross weight of 7.1 tons. However, I have a removable livestock container which is clamped on to the vehicle for livestock carrying and with this container the unladen weight of the vehicle becomes approximately 4 tons.
Is an hgv driving licence necessary, does the method of fixing have any bearing on the driving licence required, and will an hgv licence become necessary after December 31 1975 when the Common Market driving licence regulations come into force?
A Broadly, the effect of Part IV of the Road Traffic Act 1972 (previously Part V of the Road Traffic Act 1960) is that heavy goods vehicle driving licences are required to drive a goods vehicle on a road if the unladen weight exceeds 3 tons. In the case which you quote the need for the driver to have an hgv licence obviously hinges on the method of calculating the unladen weight.
Briefly, Section 194 of the 1972 Act states that the unladen weight of the vehicle shall be taken to be the weight of the vehicle inclusive of the body and all parts (the heavier being taken where an alternative body or parts is used) which are necessary to or ordinarily used with the vehicle when working on a road.
For hgv licence purposes, therefore, it must be decided if the removable body which you use is necessary to or ordinarily used with the vehicle.
As your truck has a platform body, the container cannot be considered necessary to it but only you can establish if it is "ordinarily" used with the vehicle. No definition of that term is given in the Act.
If you decide that the body is ordinarily used with the truck then an hgv licence is necessary. The safest course is for the driver to have one.
The method of fixing has no bearing on the matter.
After December 31 1975 the driver of an hgv up to 3.5 metric tons gross will have to be 17 years of age, up to 7.5 metric tons (7.38 imperial tons) gross he will have to be at least 18 and over that gross weight he will have to be at least 21. In addition, in accordance with British law he will have to have an hgv driving licence. If your vehicle is 7.1 tons gross then the driver will have to be 18 or over but he will not need an hgv licence.