My trip to Czech Republic in September

Hi all,

as you will guesss from my username, my roots are in farming rather than driving though I have had my class 1 for over 20 years now and used to run down to France and Italy a few years ago to supplement poor winter wages as a farm contractor.

My hobby is match (competition) ploughing and I am proud to say I have now qualified twice to represent England in the European ploughing championships - last year in Denmark and this September in the Czech Republic.

Last year was no problem as the event took place at Herning so it was just a short run up the road from Esbjerg. This year I am travelling to Zabreh, about 75 miles from Brno.

So, I have joined up here to pick your brains on how best to get there, what i need to be prepared for and anything else you think might help. I do not travel out until 20th (ish) of September so plenty of chance to plan ahead. I will give you song and verse in case you notice something that could be a problem.

I bought a 10 year old ERF EC11 (■■■■■■■■ earlier this year which is in good condition apart from needing the chassis respraying and she went through her test with no faults. Have sought advice on whether she is up to the job and she has been given the thumbs up . I will be taking taking 2 tractors and ploughs with me - mine and the lad from Cornwall who is also ploughing for England. They are our own machines and will be coming back with us. Apart from that we will be taking some tools and spare parts and our clothes for about 10 days. There is no prize money and we wont be earning any money / reward as a result of the trip. We are travelling from South Shropshire / Welsh Borders. I have a good friend who also has his class 1 coming with me in the lorry to share the driving - so we can get there on time! We need to be in Zabreh by the night of Tuesday 22nd at the latest ready for official practice on Wed 23rd and Thurs 24th. The competition is taking place on the 25th and 26th. We need to get home as soon as possible after that. I wont be in a fit state to drive on the Sunday after I have been celebrating with the Irish (Northern and Republic) and Scottish contingents.

I take it that if I catch a ferry to France, Belgium or Netherlands, I wont be able to continue my journey until 22.00 Sunday night?

We are hopeful that we may get some discount on our ferry crossing by way of sponsorship so it makes sense to go for a longer crossing to take maximum advantage and to get as much rest as possible as we will have both been competing in the Welsh Ploughing Championships on the Saturday - hectic life eh? Harwich - Rotterdam at 8am or Harwich - Hook of Holland at 9am - but then a long wait on the other side?
Ramsgate -Ostend ? heard some horror stories about that one? 7am;12pm;6.30pm?
Dover - Dunkirk?
Dover-Calais?
Eurotunnel?

What is the vingnette? Do I need one? What about a manifest? CMR?

Where to get the relevant documents?

Try that for now. All your thoughts / suggestions gratefully received,

regards

Colin

you WILL NEED A VINGETTE forBelgian,holland, in Germany Maut(road charges)
also for Czech they will charge you for the road, what type of engine do you have
ie,euro-0 or 1, or 2. in your ERF

I would go via Dover-Calais, either boat or shuttle,then head via
brussels, Aachen ,heading towards Köln, you have a choice carry on to KÖLN and
get on the A3 heading to Frankfurt (ALL WAYS LOTS OF TRAFFIC, possible delays)OR AT the KERPEN crossing take the A61 and head towards KOBLENZ–
LUDWIGSHAFEN;and at the Montbauer crossing take the A48; to the A3; this may help you miss the traffic??, or not, , If you follow the A3 you stay on this road all the way through to Nurenburg,here take the A6 for Amberg,Waildhaus,over the border you are now on the 5-E50;heading to Pilzen,Praha,now YOU CAN EITHER RUN down to Brno, and then cut across or take the E67;Which is on the other side of Praha and then use the country roads to get to Zabreh,some one like Madmonk or Bear or KW will be along and give perhaps a much better route, Have alook at the EURO-STICKYS as there is lots of useful information on here to help you with getting the right information, let vus know if this has helped and makes sense,

Yes, thanks brit pete,

will have to check on engine type, remember seeing certificate for emissions with mot - was ok for city of London - was previously with Lynx parcels - 11 litre ■■■■■■■■

How far ahead can you get the vingette? I take it I cannot get MAUT or Czech road charges in advance?

As it is only for my hobby, the unit is taxed on ‘Private HGV’ therefore no operators licence - should this be a problem?

Am i right to assume that if I go over on the Sunday, I cannot leave the docks until 22.00?

Do you mind me asking why you recommend Dover Calais in preference to the alternatives? Just cheaper? More convenient?

regards

Colin

1;Euro-vingette is for Belgian and Holland, you can get this is the Docks at Dover or at the shuttle when you book in,you should only need 1days as you will be in germany inside 6hrs max,the vingette is from 0000–2400, so if you arrive in
Belgian at 2345hrs you will need 2days worth of tickets.
2: the Maut for Germany you can book at the border you will have to plan your route as the ticket has a set amount of time , take a look at the Toll-collect site, In fact have you looked at the EURO STICKYS YET ■■?;;
WRITE TO Toll -collect and ask if you are execpt from the toll
try reading this and look through the site,
.Logo Toll Collect

Customer Service: +49 180 - 2 - 86 55 26
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RSS / Mailservice | Contact

Homepage Truck toll system Questions & answers Press Toll Update Careers

You are here: Home Truck toll system Toll Exemption

Road Toll Exemption
Toll-exempt vehicles

In accordance with § 1 subsections 1 and 2 of the German Motorway Toll Act for Heavy Commercial Vehicles (ABMG), certain vehicles and vehicle combinations are exempt from the toll. These include:

• Buses and coaches,
• Military vehicles,
• Police vehicles
• Civil defence and emergency rescue vehicles
• Vehicles used by a non-profit-making or charitable organisation to transport emergency aid in serious humanitarian crises
• Fire service vehicles
• Vehicles used by other emergency services
• Vehicles in the service of the German Government
• Vehicles used exclusively for highway maintenance and operation, including road sweeping and winter services
• Vehicles used exclusively for purposes of the showman’s and circus industry
• Vehicles not intended exclusively for the transport of goods, nor used for this purpose.

The motor vehicles must be readily identifiable as being intended for the specified purpose, with the exclusion of the abovementioned vehicles used to deliver humanitarian aid and vehicles not intended exclusively for the transport of goods, nor used for this purpose.

3. CZECH maut also bookable at the border to Czech , site is in Euro-sticky,
   WRITE to the people who are in charge of the event in Czech asking if the can
   confirm that you are excempt the road charges in their country as it is for private use and no goods are being carried, might save some money,

4, YES in France ,BUT if you land in Belgian you can drive on a Sunday and get to the german border or near it, you need to do a route card which will show you how far you have to travel, with Two drivers you can Drive 10hrs each and do a shift ,of 30hrs SO YOU CAN COVER SAY;1,500km,s (+) ;
So you could get a large part of the journey over and take then 9hrs off
and then drive the rest arriveing say before Midday Tuesday at your destination?;;

Hope the above is a help let us know if i can help also post herre as other people will look and read as well plus they might have some answers or tips as well,

Hi again,

thanks for this. Yes, i have been trawling through the sticky’s but some of the details like ‘can i buy the vingette in advance’ arent there so trying to fill in the gaps. Roughly how much is the Vingette anyway?

I will chase up whether I can get an exemption today - thanks

So, if I take Ramsgate - Ostend ferry @ 12 midday (according to their schedule) - arrive Ostend 15.30 local and then drive as far as the German border. Should be able then to fire off into Germany at 22.00 if you reckon roughly 6 hours to the border. Get away with one days vingette as well

Roughly 1250km ostend to Zabreh so should get it in one stint with 2 drivers Cross german border at 22.00 Sunday night - still got 4 hours (driver 1) and 10 hours (driver2) - should be in Zabreh by Monday 10am? Monday night at latest with full 9 hours off? Or have I got my sums wrong?

Thanks again for the info

Colin

for the vingette try THIS
YOU GET THE VINGETTE as said in the docks or at the shuttle,
when you get your ticets,
From Ostende to the border with germany ,
It will take less than 6 hours(try-4) but just in case, i allowed 6 hours;
Now from the german border to say Geiselwind truck stop(on the A3) should take
say around 8-9hrs, have a meal head up the road towards the german-
-czech border crossing where you then head for Praha-- and then the
end destination,Zabreh. YOU will proberly do the journey quicker than
one thinks, the busy times for the roads around Brussels are normaly
around 0630–0945hrs //1630–1900HRS; THIS GOES ALSO for the area around
KÖLN; and by Frankfurt --Wurzburg;Hope this helps any more questions,

britpete has already told you the easiest and fastest way to go (oostende-brusels-leuven-genk-aachen-koln-frankfurt-wurzburg-nurnberg-plzen-prague). Yes, the A3 gets very busy at times - in January I went the other direction (SK to UK) and all the stretch between wurzburg and jct with the A45(?) at aschafenburg was one BIG queue and it took us 5hrs to crawl it!
On the other hand, going Aachen-Koblenz-Ludwigshfn-Heilbron-Nurnberg is a bit of a lottery as the A61 can get equally busy.

You can make the whole trip a tiny bit shorter though not neccessarily faster and enjoy less traffic by going oostende-antwerpen-eindhoven-dortmund-A44 to kassel - A4 for erfurt - chemnitz - for dresden and then A17 for CZ border, and the D8 for Prague. There’s a shortcut via Hora sv. Sebastiana by the B174 (IIRC) and Chomutov - Louny - may be of consideration if you want to save some fuel.

Coming to Prague from the Plzen direction you have to go via the “southern connection” which can be a complete nightmare; for example if there’s an accident which does happen often.
Coming from the north (the D8) you have to watch the signs carefully and sometimes even look them up among all their billboards and adverts to get it right. But in essence it’s like leave the D8 at jct.0, third or fourth left after a ringht bend and a railway bridge, straight, right onto R1 and off from it to D11.

Prague to Zabreh - I’d go D11 for Hradec Kralove and then the 35 to Mohelnice. Going via D1 for Brno and Olomouc and then R46 and R35 is about 100km longer.
The first stretches of the D11 beyond Prague are awful - concrete panels, at times covered with tarmac, patches, potholes… Very shaky and noisy! It then gets better but ends before Hradec Kralove. Lorries are then diverted onto some minor roads around HK to prevent them from using inner ring road in the city. Neither way is very well signposted.
The 35 road is… scenic? Nice rolling countryside, tramlines, potholes, slow cars and tractors, fast and aggresive overtakers. So you arrive at Mohelnice and turn left for Zabreh.

Going the D1… it is usually very busy as far as jct. with #3 (for Tabor, Ceske Budejovice, Linz), then you get lot of slow lorries in crawler lanes and even more a little faster lorries overtaking them… standard practice is to pull onto hard shoulder to ease the overtaking… The road surface is bad, concrete sections, relatively short with wide gaps and rough surface - very noisy. The stretch from Brno to the north is much better. But as I said, this way is longer.

Timewise… Oostende - Aachen imho 3-3.5hrs, aachen-CZ border (via A3) ~8hrs, border-PRG-HK-Zabreh 5-6hrs; oostende - venlo ~3hrs, venlo - CZ border (via A44, A4 etc) ~7-8hrs, down to PRG in not more than 2hrs, to Zabreh via HK ~3-4hrs. That’s what I’d roughly estimate and plan for, you can be faster.

I’m pretty sure you’re exempt from Czech Sunday driving ban as you’re taking part / facilitating cultural / sport event. I’m also pretty sure you’re NOT exempt from CZ motorway toll. Assuming your ERF is Euro1 or 2 then you’ll have to pay 5.40czk/km (~20eurocents). For Euro3 and better the rate drops to 4.20.
You shouldbe able to get the box at the border or first service area. Or order it from www.premid.cz

Paperwise… well, assuming the tractors are yours then no CMR. It’s within the EU so no TIR, ATA… A letter from the CZ organizers can help to convince the police that you don’t have to obey the driving ban

ploughman1963:
Eurotunnel?

Hi ploughman1963, According to Eurotunnel’s dangerous goods list, there’s a possibility that you can consider using the tunnel, but I’ll need more info please.

ploughman1963:
What is the vingnette? Do I need one? What about a manifest? CMR?

It’s possible that you might need a multi-modal dangerous goods note.

ploughman1963:
Where to get the relevant documents?

I can help with dangerous goods documentation.

ploughman1963:
Try that for now. All your thoughts / suggestions gratefully received,

Since what you’re going to carry (tractor) has some fuel on board, I’m afraid that it/they’ll count as dangerous goods.

You’re carrying:
UN 3363 DANGEROUS GOODS IN MACHINERY, 9 (No packing group.)
However, I can tell you straight away that you very probably have TWO important exemptions from ADR.

I need to ask you whether you intend to carry any spare fuel? and, how much fuel will be in the tractor’s tank whilst you’re travelling?
Under ADR, there is an exemption for this too, but… ADR exemptions come with a few little conditions, which must be obeyed. Once you’ve obeyed those, you’re exempt from the rest of ADR so no need for an ADR licence and orange plates etc, etc.
A little note of caution here…
The German police/B.A.G. aren’t known for their mercy, as brit pete can tell you, so it’s very important to get your dangerous goods documentation in order for your trip through Germany.

Please note that Ferries/The Channel Tunnel have different rules to my thoughts above, which are only valid by road, but I can help with those too.

Dave, I may be wrong on this but I thought the UN3363 only applies to stuff other than liquid fuel in tanks of transported machines.

Fuel in tanks of cars/tractors/gensets etc. is exempt from ADR regs (to the best of my knowledge), provided the level is kept to minimum and steps to prevent leakage have been taken.

(IIRC there were some limits on this at some points but have been abolished (?) Or they only apply onboard ships■■?)

Hi HomoFaber, That’s a good question.
I kept my answer to Colin as straightforward as possible, based on the info he’d given and whilst waiting for his clarification, but you’re pretty much onto the nitty-gritty of the subject once the info arrives.

HomoFaber:
Dave, I may be wrong on this but I thought the UN3363 only applies to stuff other than liquid fuel in tanks of transported machines.

UN 3363 is either:
“Dangerous goods in machinery
or dangerous goods in apparatus”
I chose the first option as IMHO it’s the more accurate of the two. (ADR and IMDG both allow for this.)
Under both ADR and IMDG, there is no packing group assigned for this entry, but both sets of Regs say that it’s in UN Class 9.

HomoFaber:
Fuel in tanks of cars/tractors/gensets etc. is exempt from ADR regs (to the best of my knowledge), provided the level is kept to minimum and steps to prevent leakage have been taken.

Under ADR, you’re spot-on except for the part about keeping the level to a minimum. I guess that “steps to prevent leakage” covers the notion of insufficient ullage space, but it isn’t specified as such.

HomoFaber:
(IIRC there were some limits on this at some points but have been abolished (?) Or they only apply onboard ships■■?)

Under IMDG, you’re spot-on in that there are limits, but those limits (for UN 3363) are based on IMDG’s version of Limited Quantities, so that’s very different indeed to ADR’s take on the same subject.

Under ADR and IMDG, there are special provisions (SPs) that apply to UN 3363.
Under ADR, Colin will be pretty much exempt, but the detail is in how much (if any) spare fuel he wishes to carry, and if so, how it’s packaged/carried and the amount.

For UN 3363 under IMDG, there’s a limit to the fuel in the tractor fuel tank, but we’d need to know what fuel it is. In practice, the only difference that a vehicle driver might notice is how/whether the vehicle is to be placarded whilst it’s on the boat. Sorry if my answer appears vague, but I’m a little short of info just now.

DieselDave, a little bit off topic but , what does a car/lorry
transporter, driver do;;; I have never up to now seen adr/haz signs
when they go by train or ferry mate??; AND they are carrying,
JCB,s ;TRACTOR units, etc etc,

I understand your vaguity, things stop looking simple when you look better at them

I came across this sort of problem some time ago when a friend of mine had to move a big genset container - that thing had about 5000 litres of diesel in its tank. So the friend asked me if it was not ADR. Sure I did not know, it was not very obvious. So we went to read all the ADR and its ammendments and annexes and worked out that it could be ADR, with the UN of 3363. But it also did not have to be as it was liquid fuel in a tank of a machine - or somehow like that it was worded. If it leaked it would still stay within the container. We thought 3363 would be assigned to things like, say, some sort of laboratory analyzer with bottles of compressed gases or so. At the end, car transporters do not bear orange placcards while carrying some fuel in tanks of the carried cars… But 5000 litres seemed too much to be exempt. So we concluded it’s common sense form safety point of view to have there as little fuel as possible and it would save about 4tons of load so he asked the tank to be drained.
But we also learned that things could be different if he was to use RoLa or ferry.

Anyway, unless ploughman takes few barrels of great british red diesel, with some additive to help him succeed, he’ll be alright. At least for the overland part of the journey. For the wet stage you’ll give the best advice. You seem to be expert in this

brit pete:
DieselDave, a little bit off topic but , what does a car/lorry
transporter, driver do;;; I have never up to now seen adr/haz signs
when they go by train or ferry mate??; AND they are carrying,
JCB,s ;TRACTOR units, etc etc,

Hi Pete,
All those things you’ve mentioned are exempt from ADR, including the requirements of orange plates and ADR licences.

Here’s how:

ADR 2009 1.3.1.3
> 1.1.3.3 Exemptions related to the carriage of liquid fuels
> The provisions laid down in ADR do not apply to the carriage of:
>
> (a) []
>
> (b) Fuel contained in the tanks of vehicles or of other means of conveyance (such as boats) which are carried as a load, where it is destined for their propulsion or the operation of any of their equipment. Any fuel ■■■■■ between the engine or equipment and the fuel tank shall be closed during carriage unless it is essential for the equipment to remain operational. Where appropriate, the vehicles or other means of conveyance shall be loaded upright and secured against falling.
So, that’s it by road, and compliance isn’t difficult.

HomoFaber:
I understand your vaguity, things stop looking simple when you look better at them

My vagueness is only based on me not wanting to use a scatter-gun approach and give too much info at one time, because doing that in the case under discussion will lead to me having to make some assumptions, which IMHO could lead to confusion…

HomoFaber:
I came across this sort of problem some time ago when a friend of mine had to move a big genset container - that thing had about 5000 litres of diesel in its tank. So the friend asked me if it was not ADR. Sure I did not know, it was not very obvious.

If it was just a road journey, then there’s no limit on the fuel contained in the genset’s tank. The proviso is that the tank is part of its operational equipment.

HomoFaber:
So we went to read all the ADR and its ammendments and annexes and worked out that it could be ADR, with the UN of 3363. But it also did not have to be as it was liquid fuel in a tank of a machine - or somehow like that it was worded. If it leaked it would still stay within the container. We thought 3363 would be assigned to things like, say, some sort of laboratory analyzer with bottles of compressed gases or so.

It’s still worded about the same, but there are conditions to any exemptions, cos there’s no such thing as a free lunch!! Each individual UN number may have one or more Special Provisions (SPs) which must be obeyed, so it’s not possible to generalise.

HomoFaber:
At the end, car transporters do not bear orange placcards while carrying some fuel in tanks of the carried cars… But 5000 litres seemed too much to be exempt.

True, but then ADR quite often provides some surprising exemptions, but exemptions almost always come with conditions attached. The exemption for the car transporter is in a different sub-section to the exemption for the genset’s fuel.
The ADR exemption I have in mind for Colin is different again, this time it’s because of the intended use of the tractor.

HomoFaber:
So we concluded it’s common sense form safety point of view to have there as little fuel as possible and it would save about 4tons of load so he asked the tank to be drained.
But we also learned that things could be different if he was to use RoLa or ferry.

WADR mate, confusion is what generally happens to folks who think they can just download ADR and interpret it for themselves. ADR is quite complicated, but there’s (sometimes) even more complication depending on whether a road journey takes place wholly within the UK, or is international. TBF though, if weight was a consideration, then IMHO draining the tank was a good idea from that point of view.

Another point that is raised by your friend carrying the genset is that it is the consignor’s responsibility to classify the dangerous goods or article, and provide information to your friend (the carrier.) Both the consignor and the carrier are (usually) required to appoint a DGSA. In Colin’s case, he doesn’t need to appoint a DGSA (yet another exemption at work here, ) so I’m happy to advise him for free to save him from unwittingly disobeying the requirements that do apply to him.

HomoFaber:
Anyway, unless ploughman takes few barrels of great british red diesel, with some additive to help him succeed, he’ll be alright. At least for the overland part of the journey. For the wet stage you’ll give the best advice. You seem to be expert in this

The wet stage is open to some interpretation by the various Port Authorities and the various shipping lines, but thankfully for vehicle drivers, there’s very little of IMDG that a driver would notice. However, it’s a bit different for the consignor, because IMDG is very prescriptive when it comes to consignor responsibilities, particularly with regard to documentation. My expertise is really only to do with the ‘by road’ part, because that’s what my DGSA qualification covers. I only have the current IMDG, because some of the firms that retain me as their DGSA are also involved in ferry crossings, but there are no formal qualification requirements for IMDG.

Under both ADR and IMDG though, Colin can take some spare fuel if he wishes, depending on which fuel it is and how much of it he may wish to carry. The Channel Tunnel has its own separate set of dangerous goods Regs, which are based on ADR, but there are many extra restrictions.

Thanks everybody for the input. Up to my eyes in hay harvesting at the moment so will reply with the extra info / input in a couple of days but thanks for the advice so far!

Colin

am i reading this right 3 people in an ERF
or is Cornish bloke flying over
to take stress out of journey
could you find some foreign competitor to put you up for night out

Hello again - harvest sorted so back to sorting this out.

Hitch - Cornish lad flying out to meet me in Zabreh - just 2 of us in cab.

Can someone clarify something please? I had assumed that we needed to go Ramsgate Ostend due to driving ban in France on Sunday, but had also heard that if transiting France to Belgium and onwards then Sunday ban doesnt apply? Followed one of the sticky links and found this under the list of exceptions to the Sunday ban - "transports on the occasion of public events (political, economic, sports, cultural events etc.),also border crossing transports. A previous exception allowing the driving of trucks that are returning to their home countries with or without payload, however, this was abolished on 24th March 1997. " So, can I go Dover Calais / Tunnel and travel through France to Belgium before 22.00 hrs Sunday or do I have to go via Ramsgate Ostend to miss the ban?

How do you know if your vehicle is tier 1, 2 or 3? I have a ‘London Low Emission Zone’ certificate for the ERF - it says that the ‘prescribed Emission standard is 0.16g/kmh Euro 3PM’ and that it states it is a ‘Low Emission Engine’. Is this the info needed ? - or else where do I look for it?

Have asked around about fuel in tractor tanks and sounds like no ADR needed. Tractors are diesel engined and no spare diesel carried. Tractor tanks carrying 150 litres each max.

Ringing VOSA today to check whether I am alright to travel as a private HGV as it has been suggested that even private use needs at least a ‘restricted’ O licence for continental travel - although several ploughmen have done it before.

Have contacted organisers regarding Czech Sunday driving ban and awaiting reply.

Tractors are our own as are the ploughs and the only other things I am taking are tools and spares (parts which are fitted and removed at various times during the competition) relating to the ploughs.

So, the plan so far is,

Brother in Law is driving lorry to Ramsgate for me so that we start with a clean tacho. Take 12.00 ferry Sunday 20th , drive from Ostend to German border and cross at 22.00 hrs. 2 of us sharing driving of 4.5 hour shifts plus extra hour each as neither of us having driven previous week, to give 20 hours driving? Plenty of driving overnight should mean quiet roads so reasonable driving times? From the info supplied on here can assume travelling time of between 17.5 and 20 hours. Best scenario - get to Zabreh late afternoon / early evening Monday: worst scenario arrive 9-10 hours later after taking a 9 hour break en route.

Breaks taken whilst passenger in truck cab dont count??

Neither of us are professional drivers so will not have tacho’s for previous week - do we draw up our own signed affirmation to state that we have not driven in previous week?

TIA again

regards

Colin

ploughman1963:
Hello again - harvest sorted so back to sorting this out.

Hitch - Cornish lad flying out to meet me in Zabreh - just 2 of us in cab.

Can someone clarify something please? I had assumed that we needed to go Ramsgate Ostend due to driving ban in France on Sunday, but had also heard that if transiting France to Belgium and onwards then Sunday ban doesnt apply? Followed one of the sticky links and found this under the list of exceptions to the Sunday ban - "transports on the occasion of public events (political, economic, sports, cultural events etc.),also border crossing transports. A previous exception allowing the driving of trucks that are returning to their home countries with or without payload, however, this was abolished on 24th March 1997. " So, can I go Dover Calais / Tunnel and travel through France to Belgium before 22.00 hrs Sunday or do I have to go via Ramsgate Ostend to miss the ban?

You can drive from Calais to the Border at Belgium as long as you stay on the A16.

ploughman1963:
How do you know if your vehicle is tier 1, 2 or 3? I have a ‘London Low Emission Zone’ certificate for the ERF - it says that the ‘prescribed Emission standard is 0.16g/kmh Euro 3PM’ and that it states it is a ‘Low Emission Engine’. Is this the info needed ? - or else where do I look for it?

what year is your truck? generally if you don’t know it is likely to be Euro 3 or lower

ploughman1963:
Brother in Law is driving lorry to Ramsgate for me so that we start with a clean tacho. Take 12.00 ferry Sunday 20th , drive from Ostend to German border and cross at 22.00 hrs. 2 of us sharing driving of 4.5 hour shifts plus extra hour each as neither of us having driven previous week, to give 20 hours driving? Plenty of driving overnight should mean quiet roads so reasonable driving times? From the info supplied on here can assume travelling time of between 17.5 and 20 hours. Best scenario - get to Zabreh late afternoon / early evening Monday: worst scenario arrive 9-10 hours later after taking a 9 hour break en route.

you would still have to count the journey to Ramsgate as other work, so you would not in fact have a clean tacho

ploughman1963:
Neither of us are professional drivers so will not have tacho’s for previous week - do we draw up our own signed affirmation to state that we have not driven in previous week?

you need a letter of attestation for the last 28 days and it must be printed and not in Biro, with a company stamp on it. and if possible on company headed paper

• Calais to Belgian border is ban-free,

ploughman1963:
How do you know if your vehicle is tier 1, 2 or 3?

That’s a good question… They tell you when you truck from them… Or you ask your boss… Not surre about UK’s V5 but emissions are in registration certificate of most countries.

It’s good to know that as motorway toll rates are based on this (sometimes - in your case in D and CZ)

ploughman1963:
‘prescribed Emission standard is 0.16g/kmh Euro 3PM’

Should I read this as “Euro3” or “0.16g/kWh PM”…? which would look more like Euro2… But isn’t LEZ issued to Euro3 and better only??

• in ideal world your journey to Ramsgate (by car or train or whatever) would be “other work”. In real world… (I decline any responsibility if you do it) you can start with clean new tacho. When questioned say you have stayed in a Ramsgate hotel, weekend at seaside, with family…

• while one man is doing the 4.5hrs driving the other is having 45min break first and then 3:45 availability.

• I think you could make Oostende-Zabreh in 20hrs. Maybe you should press the pedal a bit at times (which should not be much of a problem on Sun night) just to be on safe side. You don’t want to stop for 9hrs somewhere at Vysoke Myto.

• you’ll need a letter from your employer (or youself if you are self-emplyed) stating that you are not drivers so you have not driven in previous month… and that you had Fri and Sat off (for your seaside weekend at Ramsgate).

ploughman1963:
Have asked around about fuel in tractor tanks and sounds like no ADR needed. Tractors are diesel engined and no spare diesel carried. Tractor tanks carrying 150 litres each max.

Hi ploughman1963, Thanks for the clarification.

What you’re going to carry is:
UN 3363 DANGEROUS GOODS IN MACHINERY, CLASS 9.
Based on the info you’ve given, you’re completely exempt from ADR provided that you take measures to avoid leakage, eg shutting off any fuel taps (if fitted) and not having the tank completely full.

However, I do advise you to contact the appropriate ferry operator (shipping line) to find out exactly what their requirements (including paperwork) are, because the rules for the carriage of dangerous goods by sea (IMDG) are very different to ADR, which is only valid by road.
I’d suggest that it might be best to check in order to avoid any inconvenience at the port.