Just curious if anyone has ever been done by vosa or the police for running an artic when it exceeds 16.5 metres combined length?
I’ve seen the odd scania T-cab pulling a fridge, but you never hear of anyone being done for it.
limeyphil:
Just curious if anyone has ever been done by vosa or the police for running an artic when it exceeds 16.5 metres combined length?
I’ve seen the odd scania T-cab pulling a fridge, but you never hear of anyone being done for it.
As I just mentioned on the thread about on the spot fines in the UK, I was done near Pamplona recently for being 30mm over 16.5m and it cost 650 Euros.
1 of our drivers got done phil he had a t-cab, 6x2 tag, and was pulling a 45ft curtainsider, got stopped an fined, we had to send out another wagon to pull the trailer, dnt no if he was got done or wa like wil try and find out
should have said hombre. i meant in the UK, as we all know that in spain and france they will do you for ■■■■■■■ in a cross wind.
I know the DSA state a max length of 16.5 metres for the CE artic test but I did not know there was a max length for use on the UK highways.
How does this work for extendable trailers if there is such a length restriction - do they have a special permit 
ask the guys who worked for the car transporter firms
from out side the UK;;, as i do belive they have had the
misfortune to be caught in the UK over length,and been
done, try looking back through old news reports it
will confirm this
thought that firm from Holland/Poland that run orange transporters (De Roy??) got done for it quite often actually.
ROG:
you are excempt if you are carrying an indivisable load. or you are going to collect an indevisable load with a specialy constructed trailer.
wagon and drags can be a bit longer, but i can’t remember what the reason is.
Short answer; yes, although I don’t recall how much the fines were. One was an artic carrying caravans with an extending trailer (so not carrying an ‘indivisible load’) also got done for overhang on the last ‘van.’ The other was a Belgian registered Volvo NL with a full size container. Both were way over 16.5m
there is an owner driver in Kent that runs an American bonneted Volvo VN on containers, he has been pulled regular by Vosa for being overlength, he gets away with it due to the fact that the container is the load, not part of the trailer, and he has to strectch the trailer to fit the load, if he puts a 20 foot container on, he is within the max length with a shortened trailer.
I thought you said “invisible”
brit pete:
ask the guys who worked for the car transporter firms
from out side the UK;;, as i do belive they have had the
misfortune to be caught in the UK over length,and been
done, try looking back through old news reports it
will confirm this
limeyphil:
ROG:
you are excempt if you are carrying an indivisable load. or you are going to collect an indevisable load with a specialy constructed trailer.
wagon and drags can be a bit longer, but i can’t remember what the reason is.
as far as im aware going back to my training days,we were told that if the structure(trailer)is not fixed(can be altered),and also something about the top decks being exempt from length restrictions??,i"ve never had any problems,and i have vehicles hanging over the ends of the truck which in itself is 18.75 metres long.things may be different for t cabbed scanias pulling max length trailers though.i"ve never heard of a car transporter being done for being overlength,because even if it is,you just have to show a warning to the rear(ie swirch on the sidelights of the rear vehicle),to show a red warning light.
There quite legally 50,55 and 60 foot rigid (non extendable) trailers running about under C&U regulations, as long as they have carried a load requiring that length of trailer at some point during their journey they can quite legally back load anything they wish even if it is not over length.
- Construction and Use Regulations
Construction and Use Regulations 1986 apply to loads, which are wide or long but not heavy. Vehicle lengths may reach 27.4 metres and can be carried on specially designed vehicles.
sorry about the bad image, had to enlarge it from a small photo…
a legal 50 foot rigid trailer
you are only allowed a set length plus over hang, so if the unit is
too long you get done ,
John Scholey use to run a yank on Geest boxes and I think the ministry had a word, because he was often seen with standard 40 foot boxes instead of 13.6.
The quote below goes a long way to explaining what is, or not allowed.
An artic over 15.5 metres long must be able to turn on either lock so that, with or without all its wheels on the ground (except for a vehicle made before 1 June 1998), no part of it (except front of a car transporter) projects outside the area contained between two concentric circles of 5.3 metres and 12.5 metres radii.
This does not apply to a semi trailer made before 1 April 1990, as long as its length has not been increased since that date, a car transporter, a low loader, a step frame low loader, or a trailer made for moving indivisible loads of exceptional length.
the reason i asked the question is because a law is only as good as the enforcement behind it.
There was a hiped up article in a magazine regarding a cab that was about 22cm longer than normal, and i thought what’s with all the excitement?
But prior to reading the article i’d just finished lobying my mp and two mep’s, But i was asking for a bit more than 22cm amongst other things.
You see if vosa give a little discretion and we were to know what it was, then we could use the amount of discretion to our advantage.