Right folks i’m needing some advice, I have looked on the net but never found what iwas looking for. here goes:
I passed my driving test after the first of january 1997 which means i cant tow a trailer behind a vehicle. Now I have recently past my class 2 and as far as i’m aware I still cant tow a trailer? correct? Am i limited to 8.25t?
Secondly!
My mate from work has just done his class 2 and is a bit older than me and he passed his test BEFORE january 1997, Now he could tow a trailer behind car/van etc. He drives a 7.5 ton truck and our boss is sure that he can tow a plant trailer behind it with a 3 ton mini digger on it. Now my thinking of this is that your limited to 8.25t gross so if he wanted to pull a trailer it could only weight 750kg’s!
Both of us are slightly unsure about what is legal and our boss will try his best to make us pull a trailer.
Drivers who hold categories: B, C1 or C can tow a trailer provided the maximum authorised mass of the trailer does not exceed 750 kg.
It is possible for a category B (car driver) to tow a trailer which exceeds 750 kg as long as the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle and the vehicle and trailer weight combined does not exceed 3500 kg.
If you passed your car test after 1997 you can still tow a trailer, but it can’t be over 750 kilos, or exceed the unladen mass of the car towing it, or exceed 3.5ton combined weight. To tow for example a car transporter trailer on the back of a car with a post 97 licence you need to take a trailer test, which is B+E, C1+E or C+E. Problem is a lot of people don’t realise this, so you get people with post 97 licences towing loads over 750kilos. Obviously the major difference most people are aware of is the lack of C1 entitlement after 97. I think that’s right.
Kiowan:
If you passed your car test after 1997 you can still tow a trailer, but it can’t be over 750 kilos, or exceed the unladen mass of the car towing it, or exceed 3.5ton combined weight. To tow for example a car transporter trailer on the back of a car with a post 97 licence you need to take a trailer test, which is B+E, C1+E or C+E. Problem is a lot of people don’t realise this, so you get people with post 97 licences towing loads over 750kilos. Obviously the major difference most people are aware of is the lack of C1 entitlement after 97. I think that’s right.
Towing does cause a lot of confusion. When I started looking into it a good while back my head was going round in circles!
B licences give the most headaches. It is perfectly possible to drive a 3.5T Sprinter/Luton type van and trailer up to 750kgs - giving a spreadover of 4.25T. If you are using a lighter vehicle than this, it is possibe to tow a heavier trailer than this - but the MAM of the combination must not exceed 3.5T. Also, as you so correctly say, the weight of the trailer must not exceed the unladen mass of the prime mover. To me, this is total nuts. Why shouldn’t such licence holders not be permitted to drive B combinations of 4.25T regardless of circumstances?
But in many cases, the above doesn’t seem to matter because of the other biggie you mention, namely the ignorance of post 1997 licence holders of the need for them to pass a B+E test to tow heavy trailers and caravans, etc. They just automatically assume out of genuine innocence that because their fathers didn’t have to pass another test to tow that they don’t have to also. Having said this, I haven’t heard of anyone being done for towing without a B+E licence.
C and C1 seem so much more straightforward - the trailer allowance is a strict 750kgs. But that grandad C1+E also generates the very type of confusion that the OP mentioned. I myself was told by some “expert” that if you passed a C test, then the restriction on the C1+E was removed because the weight you could drive on a C licence (32T) was much greater than that of C1+E (12T gross train weight). But various posters on other threads here said that this was not the case. Perhaps his boss was thinking along the same lines. See just how braintwisting this is!
Just noticed a little something while reading the counterpart of my licence (every time a query on licensing comes up here I do this - and I don’t know why!) I noticed something very interesting on this subject… On the back under the heading 1 - Provisional Licence - restrictions/conditions I notice that one of the things you must not do is drive or ride a vehicle to which a trailer is attached unless it is an agricultural tractor or an…articulated vehicle. By implication, this surely means that provisional B licence holders can drive one of those very rarely encountered 3.5T plated tractors and semitrailers (perhaps we could call them CPC Dodgers?! - they’re bound to become more common over time) without any problems - as long as they wear L plates and are supervised of course!
Both of us are slightly unsure about what is legal and our boss will try his best to make us pull a trailer.
Lets simplify matters:-
Tell you boss to pay for your training for C+E.
You pass the test and get the licence to pull trailers.
Your boss tells you to pull trailers
You say OK will do
No further complications
Everybody happy
Both of us are slightly unsure about what is legal and our boss will try his best to make us pull a trailer.
Lets simplify matters:-
Tell you boss to pay for your training for C+E.
You pass the test and get the licence to pull trailers.
Your boss tells you to pull trailers
You say OK will do
No further complications
Everybody happy
C+E will be booked tomorrow, have been waiting on my license coming back from DVLA so i can book it. All paid for by me… Wont be in the building industry much longer hopefully.
TONY530I:
C+E will be booked tomorrow, have been waiting on my license coming back from DVLA so i can book it. All paid for by me… Wont be in the building industry much longer hopefully.
Doing it with a company local to me called Nithcree Training also known as Caledonia Training i think. Done class 2 there last month and cannot rate them highly enough. 4 days training and past first time with 3 minors.
TONY530I:
C+E will be booked tomorrow, have been waiting on my license coming back from DVLA so i can book it. All paid for by me… Wont be in the building industry much longer hopefully.
TONY530I:
Doing it with a company local to me called Nithcree Training also known as Caledonia Training i think. Done class 2 there last month and cannot rate them highly enough. 4 days training and past first time with 3 minors.
I only ask as a lot of newbies ask about training schools and where they can find a good one - if you recommend them why not put their website address on here - it is allowed
