Firstly i am new to the forum,so hello to everyone.
I drove trucks for 15 years until jacking it in 8 years ago to start on my own.I transport cars on 3.5t van and now require a trailer,i am perfectly fine with the tacho and tacho laws but require an O licence.
My shear frustration is the fact that the application is all geared towards trucks and has no meaning for a 3.5t van.My biggest problem is the operating centre,at the moment the van lives on my drive and any trailer i use will be hired as it will be infrequent use.
Am i making the wrong application or is there a different application for vans towing trailers.
Not entirely sure about this one, but if your trailers unladen weight is under something like 1.2 tonnes you don’t need an o licence, but you will need a tacho for over 3.5t gcw. Would have to check this for certain.
If the trailer will weigh over this weight unladen you will need an o licence, but assuming you have room for the van and trailer on the drive and your neighbours aren’t bothered can’t see why you can’t use your home address.
The trailer i hire is a 3t one (i don’t own it so don’t need parking for it),also on the application when they mention trailers surely they mean HGV trailers that require a test.A car trailer needs no test.I know i need the O licence to carry on as my train weight is 6.5t.
What I’ve found with dealing with O’licence applications is if if you want something different to the standard, then ask and explain why. When I’ve dealt with them I’ve generally found them very helpful.
So I would call the number on the forms for the people who deal with the applications, explain the situation and see what they say.
They might say no chance or they might say put it in writing and it will be considered on a case by case basis. I don’t think I’d mention you’d already been running a trailer though. 
Forget the trailer,no brainer not worth the hassle. 
coiler:
Not entirely sure about this one, but if your trailers unladen weight is under something like 1.2 tonnes you don’t need an o licence, but you will need a tacho for over 3.5t gcw. Would have to check this for certain.
s.
Nope, its changed, for hire & reward o needed, not for own account work.
Yip its a really daft idea having an o for 3.5t with trailer, might as well take the step to a larger unit at the same time, say a 5t etc, that does give a lot more usable capacity given modern car weights & not paranoif ref extra weights with a sleeper pod etc, only advantage of a pre 56 plate 3.5t on analogue is discs can be binned as you only ran the van alone those wks… Can’t do that on digi tho ;(
The problem with a 5t or 7.5t is the need to constantly run with a tacho and i would require a driver cpc,whereas when running without the trailer i don’t need the tacho or cpc.Also the economy of 7.5t rules it out,my current van averages 30-35mpg,weight is not a problem for the vehicles i move.
Fair point on the driver CPC, but will need your own transport manager CPC or a hired in transport manager etc & that is far more of a pain vs the 2 easy tests you can now do for driver cpc.
Why the trailer? 2 car moves? Or to occasionally take more weight than the 3.5 can take? A dual purpose vehicle (usually a 4x4) can help with the latter, well the former also with the right trailer, just need tacho then.
Submit a photograph of the outfit with your application. As you say they can only envisage a 44t outfit. Also a lot of 5ton vans have limited towing capacity. Manufacturers limits are often 2000kg max.
My dad has an operator CPC and can act as my transport manager,the need of the trailer is to move two vehicles at a time,there is plenty of work and demand for this outfit.And occasionally to move heavier vehicles.In an ideal world i would buy a 7.5t and run two vehicles but my finances simply will not allow this.
My current truck has a towing capacity of 3000kg.
You will probably need to have it as a condition of the licence.
From their point of view, if they grant a licence to a driveway operating centre there’s nothing to stop you upgrading to a 7.5t+.
Bear in mind, with a driveway, it’s not just the DVSA you’ve got to get it past, there’s a newspaper ad, so it’s your neighbours as well.
I also deliver cars on a 3.5 tonne transporter and as you will find out the majority of 3.5t with trailers don’t not have o licence driving down rates and currently car kerb weight is increasing and most transit/sprinter types struggle to carry beyond a focus size car ,my current vehicle has a real world payload of 1890 kg allowing for fatty me and fuel etc .Think carefully before going higher rates wont increase check the job boards you will see rates of 50p normal .I recently looked at a new 5000kg truck payload of 2200kg achievable on Iveco/crafter which is not much more than and wheelbase axle load is critical ,interestingly there is no factory conversion available now at 3500kgs vauaxhall 4600kgs payload 1900 with winch. so I am sticking to my trusty Volkswagen rohill triaxle spending 4k on refurb but know I can leave home and carry most cars ,well worth looking at market trends on cars before applying my opinion is that a three year plan by dvsa will see all 3500kgs becoming extinct and ducato transit movano will all be 4400kg plus hence the heavy chassis cab weight which will line up with Europe and bring in more tax and money for dvsa whom I support amazing how many people use there transporter massive overloaded they even try to sell them with pictures of massive overloads on ebay .
use a logbook for your hours
keep accurate and comprehensive maintenance record
tyre checks by a good retailer my fortnightly
and then you can show dvsa that trailer use is intermittent
that’s what I do currently although I make more without it
hope my rambling helps
The guidance in place is for goods vehicles operating at over 3.5 tonnes there for all the guidance applies to you whether it’s a truck or a van is not relevant
coiler:
Not entirely sure about this one, but if your trailers unladen weight is under something like 1.2 tonnes you don’t need an o licence, but you will need a tacho for over 3.5t gcw. Would have to check this for certain.
If the trailer will weigh over this weight unladen you will need an o licence, but assuming you have room for the van and trailer on the drive and your neighbours aren’t bothered can’t see why you can’t use your home address.
but if your trailers unladen weight is under something like 1.2 tonnes you don’t need an o licence
this bit is out of the window now, its a combined weight