trucking482002:
Did a bit of STGO years ago ,Usual first question of Police ■■■■■■–" How fast can you go driver!!!"
regards derek
Aren’t they the pinnacle of driving standards■■?
If your on a Movement order DO NOT go off route and make sure you’ve got all your marker boards/beacons fitted for any wide loads.
Jesus you 2 must have been bored , 11yrs old !
When I had police ■■■■■■ out Wales they said how fast can we go we just kept up with them … best 260 quid spent
I used these sites.
transportsfriend.org/abnormal/category.html
commercialmotor.com/legal/sp … rmal-loads
assets.highways.gov.uk/specialis … _loads.pdf
Just remember to cross reference
Hi all 
Just landed myself a new job , more pay (£150/week 
) and better hours, never thought it possible 
Anyway, it’s general haulage but with the occasional abnormal/wide load thrown in.
Can someone in basic English explain the differences between STGO1,2,3 please 
When do you need an ■■■■■■/police ■■■■■■?
Do I have to take any tests to haul these loads?
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
John
PS I know I only passed my test 9mths ago, so I should know 
Cheers Denis.
Mind boggling!!!
John
Don’t quote me but I think :
STGO 1 to 50 t
STGO 2 to 80 t
STGO 3 above 80 t
Rikki’s your man to confirm/add more. 
the site which denis linked to tells you all the numbers cat1= upto 46000kgs,
cat2 upto 80000kgs and cat3 upto 150000kgs gross train weight etc etc
there is no specific separate test, in THEORY you could pass C+E one day and be pulling 100tonnes around at 20’ wide the next
as for police escorts they very rarely bother nowadays, every force’s criteria varies but roughly: motorways and trunk dual carriageways - over 130te and/or 4.60m wide and/or 30m long, all other roads - over 100te and/or 4.10m wide - all others over certain dimensions will have to have a private ■■■■■■ as stipulated by the police at their discretion
hope thats of help - wouldn’t wait around for rikki, he’s probably out of touch by now 
wouldn’t wait around for rikki, he’s probably out of touch by now
Now if that isn’t red rag to a bull, I don’t know what is… 
As far as I understand providing you don’t exceed 44 tonnes and certain dimensions you won’t have to come under STGO.
you can carry a maximum width of 2.9m 9’6" and overall vehicle length of 60’ before you need to notify the police. You will need markers and lights for the load though.
Anything over this not carried on STGO will you will need to inform each Police area you are passing through. They will then tell you if you need an ■■■■■■ and if it will be civilian or police.
I think things are slightly different for STGO.
Some more info, a bit more basic this time .
Wide loads, up to and including 2.9m wide are not wide .
Over 2.9m up to 3.5m wide needs to be marked and at night, lighted.
3.5m up to 4.3m wide needs marking and lighting as needed and a second man.
The markers should comply with the regulations, but that means huge, so they are usually a size which seems appropriate to the load in the estimation of the driver (or whatever you can get).
The width of the load includes the thickness of any restraining devise which goes over the outside edge of the load, (so if you have a 2.9m wide load of plate with 25mm of chain sticking out past the edge of the plate on both sides, it should be marked).
If it needs to be marked, the Police need to be notified of the dimensions and your route.
Long loads which hang over the back up to about 1m don’t need anything, but I would put some sort of marker on anyway. Over 1m needs to be clearly marked (and be very careful when turning) .I can’t remember how much the max rear overhang you are allowed is now, but I am pretty sure that its 2m.
Using a NON STGO vehicle, you can pull loads up to about 65 feet long, on a 60 foot trombone (extendable trailer), with the load up against the headboard. If its longer than that, it needs to go over the headboard (and if nesessary, above the cab. I don’t think you are allowed very much out over the front of your cab at all. If it goes over your cab, check the height as well , could be very embarassing if a low bridge happens to be on your route.
This is all from memory, from quite a few years ago. Things may well have changed since then and I could easily be simply wrong , especially about long loads (what needs marking mainly).
At that time, marker lights had to be steady red/white as required for the direction they where facing.Winky pots (amber flashing beacons) not legally allowed but we used them anyway 
(I’ve got a ■■■ lighter socket with crocodile clips on the ends of the wires). We also used trailer side marker lights clipped onto the chains, with small crocodile clips on the wires as well. Take a marker-light cover off, put the crocodile clips onto the terminal screws and replace the cover. Hey presto, extension marker lights for the wide load.
Simon:
, Long loads which hang over the back up to about 1m don’t need anything, but I would put some sort of marker on anyway. Over 1m needs to be clearly marked (and be very careful when turning)
.
John,
I left Econofreight in 1979 so can offer you absolutely no useful info at all except to reinforce Simons warning above. I pulled a 60’ trailer with a 10’ overhang through Bangor one day without ■■■■■■ (not required) and wiped out the bollards and Belisha at the left turn opposite the railway station. Nobody noticed but like a good lad I reported it to the council offices just south of town when I stopped to pick up my ■■■■■■ to Pwllheli (required). They didn’t seem bothered and I never heard any more about it. The police however were very ticked off about a boring ■■■■■■ duty and raced me through the country lanes at up to 60 mph, even pulling over slower vehicles to let us zoom through - HAIRY!!
BTW sounds like your wages in countrified Cornwall are almost on a par with countrified Dordogne. Minimum. 
Salut, David.
Did a bit of STGO years ago ,Usual first question of Police ■■■■■■–" How fast can you go driver!!!"
regards derek