HGV/LGV Categories & Minimum Ages

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Decided to write this post/explanation up for those who may not think to check the DirectGOV website first etc, as this is a truck forum it would be information you would expect to see anyway.

If you passed your Car test, which is Category B, before the 1st of January 1997, you will have the entitlement to drive a 7 and a half tonner (7.5t) also know as Category C1. This is a vehicle weighing between 3,500kg and 7,500kg. You can also tow a trailer while you’re driving this vehicle, but the trailer must not exceed 750kg.
If you have C1E on your license, then this basically means that you can still drive a vehicle weighing between 3,500kg and 7,500kg but you can tow a trailer heavier than 750kg. The total weight of the vehicle and trailer together can’t weigh more than 12,000kg.
The weight of the trailer when fully loaded cannot weight more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.

C1 - Vehicles weighing between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg, with or without a trailer - weighing no more than 750 kg

You can drive this vehicle at 17 years of age if you are a member of the armed forces, otherwise the standard age is 18.

C1E - As category C1 but with a trailer weighing more than 750 kg. The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can’t weigh more than 12,000 kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can’t weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle

You can drive this vehicle at 17 years of age if you are a member of the armed forces.
Age 18 if you got your driving licence before 10 September 2009 and the weight of the vehicle and trailer together is under 7,500 kg. Age 18 if one of the following apply:
- you have passed your driving test and Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) initial qualification
- you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
- you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification
- you had your driving licence before 10 September 2009 - you must take the CPC periodic training within five years of this date

If none of these apply, the minimum age is 21.

C - Vehicles over 3,500 kg, with a trailer up to 750 kg.

You can drive this vehicle at 17 years of age if you are a member of the armed forces.
You can drive this vehicle at 18 years of age if one of the following apply:
- you have passed your driving test and Driver CPC initial qualification
- you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
- you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification
- you had your driving licence before 10 September 2009 - you must take the CPC periodic training within five years of this date

If none of these apply, the minimum age is 21.

CE - As category C but with a trailer over 750 kg

You can drive this vehicle at 17 years of age if you are a member of the armed forces.
You can drive this vehicle at 18 years of age if one of the following apply:
- you have passed your driving test and Driver CPC initial qualification
- you are learning to drive or taking a driving test for this category or Driver CPC initial qualification
- you are taking a national vocational training course to get a Driver CPC initial qualification
- you had your driving licence before 10 September 2009 - you must take the CPC periodic training within five years of this date

If none of these apply, the minimum age is 21.

It is also worth mentioning that these rules are changing in January 2013, so you can visit this link for more detailed information on the category that you are taking a test or training for. direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr … /DG_201206

Source of information is from the directgov website, most of what you see here is copied and pasted from that website and I do not claim it as my own, this is simply a guide for those who come looking for it.

2

Just to add to this information.

Those who passed a UK car test before 1997 will have C1 and C1E 107 on their licence unless they are now over 70 (in which case they must provide a D4 medical annually to keep these categories) or are subject to certain medical restrictions (in which case they may have lost these entitlements).

The 107 restriction code against this C1E entitlement is ‘not more than 8250kg’ - the combined MAM of vehicle and trailer must not exceed 8250kg (before anyone tries to claim otherwise, this restriction is definitely based on MAM, not actual mass - see Schedule 2 Part 2 of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2864).

People using the C1 or C1E 107 entitlements from a pre-1997 car test to drive commercially must complete 35 hours of periodic Driver CPC training by 10 September 2014. Even if they acquire C or CE entitlement, they will never need to take the LGV initial Driver CPC tests, Module 2 and Module 4, as they have ‘acquired rights’. Should their LGV Driver CPC lapse, they can regain it in the normal way by taking 35 hours of periodic Driver CPC training.

You must take the ‘plain’ version of a driving test before you can take the ‘+E’ trailer test for that category. This means you can’t take a CE test until you have passed your C test and you can’t take a C1E test until you have passed a C1 or C test. Passing a test automatically gives you provisional entitlement to the ‘trailer’ version of that category, though the provisional is not active until DVLA return your licence to you showing the new provisional entitlement.

If you have C entitlement, you can drive C1 vehicles (C1 is a subcategory of C).

If you have CE entitlement, you can drive C1E vehicles (C1E is a subcategory of CE).

3

And the 8.25 tonne restriction doesn’t apply outside the UK, because restriction code 107 isn’t EU-wide. So up you can tow up to 4.5 tonnes behind a 7.5 on an old UK car licence in e.g. France.

4

I confess I get very confused with the 107 restriction code - I’ve still got that showing, even with a C & CE on the licence as well. So If I’m driving a 7.5t vehicle, I can only tow a trailer up to 750kg - but category C is for goods vehicles over 3500kg, so I could drive a 7.5t with a 4.5t trailer under my CE classification, but not under the C1E bit - is that correct, or am I getting totally confused now?

Gary

5

scaniason:
so I could drive a 7.5t with a 4.5t trailer under my CE classification, but not under the C1E bit - is that correct, or am I getting totally confused now?

Gary

You’re correct, ignore the 107 as you’ve got CE. In theory the DVLA should remove it but they don’t bother.

6

scaniason:
I confess I get very confused with the 107 restriction code - I’ve still got that showing, even with a C & CE on the licence as well. So If I’m driving a 7.5t vehicle, I can only tow a trailer up to 750kg - but category C is for goods vehicles over 3500kg, so I could drive a 7.5t with a 4.5t trailer under my CE classification, but not under the C1E bit - is that correct, or am I getting totally confused now?

Gary

It seems that way but, as has been said, C!E is a sub-category of CE. The ‘apparent’ restriction only remains on your licence because your CE category expires before your ‘inherited’ C!E. After your CE has expired (usually because you have stopped taking CE medicals) your existing C1E will continue as it was before you passed your CE. Is short, as long as you have a CE licence you have a ‘full’ C!E licence.
Clear as mud. I know because I asked the question on the DVLA when I got my CE licence.

In fact, having typed all that I have found my reply from the DVLA:

Your CE category does supercede the C1E category until your LGV entitlement is next due for renewal in 5 years time. At present you can drive C1 vehicles with a heavier trailer than 8250kg combined weight.

The C1E entitlement with the restriction code 107 was given to you along with C1, D1 and D1E when you passed your first driving test. They will stay on your licence until you reach the age of 70 and will not be affected if you do not choose to renew your LGV entitlement in the future. This is why they are shown as separate categories on your licence.

So there we are.

Alan

7

scaniason:
I confess I get very confused with the 107 restriction code - I’ve still got that showing, even with a C & CE on the licence as well. So If I’m driving a 7.5t vehicle, I can only tow a trailer up to 750kg - but category C is for goods vehicles over 3500kg, so I could drive a 7.5t with a 4.5t trailer under my CE classification, but not under the C1E bit - is that correct, or am I getting totally confused now?

As OnlyAlan has explained, that is the point.

You can always drive anything that would fit into a subcategory of a category you hold, even if that subcategory does not appear explicitly on your licence.

Your CE entitlement allows you to drive any goods vehicle over 3.5t MAM with less than 8 passenger seats, with any trailer. This includes anything that would fit into C1E (which has an upper limit of 12t combined MAM without the 107 code), including your example of a 7.5t MAM vehicle with a 4.5t MAM trailer. It does not matter that you don’t have unrestricted C1E on your licence or that you do have C1E 107 on your licence.

If you let your C and CE lapse (usually by not renewing your medical), you still have C1 and C1E 107 entitlement until your 70th birthday.

8

pre 97 C1+E with 107 code 8.25 tonnes max MAM can be useful for certain people

Take a horsey person who needs to move 4 horses but has not got cat C for an 18 tonner
They can have a 6 tonne GVW horse box with 2 horses towing a 2.25 tonne MAM trailer with another 2 horses = total 8.25 tonnes
That 6 tonner might also have living space for overnighting

9

Thanks all, it makes sense now!

Gary

10

For France - is 7.5tonne towing 0.75 on C1+E on ‘grandfather rights’ licence still OK.
Rumour going round that this has changed for UK licence holders?
And do the requirements change at 70 years old?

11

Pairsdriver:
For France - is 7.5tonne towing 0.75 on C1+E on ‘grandfather rights’ licence still OK.
Rumour going round that this has changed for UK licence holders?

Well, you wouldn’t need C1+E to tow 750 kg, as trailers up to 750 kg are included in the standard C1.

I don’t see how it wouldn’t be OK - it is a standard EU licence, which is supposed to be accepted EU-wide.

Pairsdriver:
And do the requirements change at 70 years old?

I’m not 100% sure, but I think you can keep your entitlement, providing you pass the full HGV medical renewal (D4), not just the normal car “self-declaration”.