Lads clear this one up for me because i just dont beleive it!
Tipper truck owner told me today that if VOSA tugged you and you happen to be 10% overweight of the total gross weight of your lorry whilst you would get a bollocking they would let you on your way??
So he said a 26 ton tipper could actually carry another 2.6 ton total = 28.6 ton a 32 ton and extra 3.2 ton making 35.2 ton!!
Absolute bolux and i told him but i thought id ask you boys cause you would know for sure!
“Overloading - Your Defence
If your vehicle is stopped at a routine checkpoint and found to be overloaded, it will depend on the severity of the amount the vehicle is overloaded by. Anything less than 5% will be treated as a minor overload, the driver will be cautioned and it maybe that he/she will be allowed to proceed, or he/she will will be requested to have the excess load removed.
If the overload is serious, the vehicle will have to have the excess load removed and the driver and operator will be prosecuted.”
I got a tug at sawtry on the A1 in a 8 wheeler in 2007. I was 32990 kgs and he said “10 kgs more and you would of had a prohibition”
I then asked him the tolerances allowed and he said " 1 Tonne or 5%, which ever is least "
but they were laid back chaps with one of them actually saying to me " your just making the most of the trucks earning capability! " I’d like to see what the little hitlers at ewloe on the A55 would say?
and then you have that Knob in Hanson shap quarry that wont let you tip if your 20 kgs over weight because “my vehicle wont be stable when tipping over weight”
Got a shock recently when on a weighbridge, said 8140kgs!! I drive a 7.5 ton ‘puddle-jumper’, big old hi-ab behind cab and was loaded with usual stuff (mini diggers, small plant etc).
Told TM, he said aleady asked boss, but won’t upgrade to ‘fit for purpose’ vehicle, nothing wrong with what that. His hands are tied he says.
I can’t afford to leave, (mortgage, wife, kids etc). Boss doesn’t care if I do, plenty out there to replace me!
Advice please, where do I stand, now I’ve read this post. Been kept in dark about the ’ you’re allowed 10% ’ rule…
I was pulled at Bingham in 1998 in a 26 ton tipper, I had no idea of the weight as I couldn’t see the scales at the quarry, and weighed off at 26.75 tonnes! I was bricking it but all they said was “I reckon that you have filled the tank up since you loaded?” Yes I have I replied, and they let me go. They were only concerned about 1 ton or over, mainly continentals.
I also got axle weighed at the scales below gate 3 on the M5 at 6.30am a few years ago with an 8 legger laden with tarmac, i knew my front and rear combined weights were ok as they wouldnt let you out of the quarry until they were, but I was found to be 2 1/2 cwt over on my 3rd axle! i was only tipping at Halesowen so they let me go but I had no way of testing individual axles at the loading point.
Got a shock recently when on a weighbridge, said 8140kgs!! I drive a 7.5 ton ‘puddle-jumper’, big old hi-ab behind cab and was loaded with usual stuff (mini diggers, small plant etc).
Told TM, he said aleady asked boss, but won’t upgrade to ‘fit for purpose’ vehicle, nothing wrong with what that. His hands are tied he says.
I can’t afford to leave, (mortgage, wife, kids etc). Boss doesn’t care if I do, plenty out there to replace me!
Advice please, where do I stand, now I’ve read this post.
If you are caught driving an overloaded vehicle you are guilty of an offence, even if it is less than 5% over and just gets you a warning. Overloading is an absolute offence to which you cannot plead not guilty. You can plead guilty and throw in some mitigating circumstances in hope of a more lenient punishment. In your case it would make no difference because you have told the boss etc, if it tips the scales too heavy you are guilty, end of.
Coffeeholic:
Overloading is an absolute offence to which you cannot plead not guilty. You can plead guilty and throw in some mitigating circumstances in hope of a more lenient punishment.
In the days when we ran at 38 tonnes, I once read in Trucking International about a solicitor who blamed his client’s gross weight of 41 tonnes on overnight rain.
Got a shock recently when on a weighbridge, said 8140kgs!! I drive a 7.5 ton ‘puddle-jumper’, big old hi-ab behind cab and was loaded with usual stuff (mini diggers, small plant etc).
Told TM, he said aleady asked boss, but won’t upgrade to ‘fit for purpose’ vehicle, nothing wrong with what that. His hands are tied he says.
I can’t afford to leave, (mortgage, wife, kids etc). Boss doesn’t care if I do, plenty out there to replace me!
Advice please, where do I stand, now I’ve read this post.
If you are caught driving an overloaded vehicle you are guilty of an offence, even if it is less than 5% over and just gets you a warning. Overloading is an absolute offence to which you cannot plead not guilty. You can plead guilty and throw in some mitigating circumstances in hope of a more lenient punishment. In your case it would make no difference because you have told the boss etc, if it tips the scales too heavy you are guilty, end of.
Thanks for info, What then, If I went to authorities and told them about what’s going on?? I know that would get me sacked, my licence though!! I can’t go on like this anymore , he just harps on ‘grand little wagon that!!..’ yeah right, until…
All very good replies but you should all try and remember for future use.1tonne or 5% whichever is the least PLUS as proven in a case against Northern Irish Dukes,a tolerance +/- of 150k’s per axle to contend with the accuracy of the weighbridge which should always be in favour of the operator.Which actually makes the actual weight limit of a 40ton artic on 5 axles 41,750.The tolerance became law as Vosa did not contest the result given by the magistrate and if any of you get in trouble I still have the press cutting.Suppose that makes a 44ton artic weight limit 45,900.
Harry Monk:
In the days when we ran at 38 tonnes, I once read in Trucking International about a solicitor who blamed his client’s gross weight of 41 tonnes on overnight rain.
There was a guy at RHM in Manchester a couple of years ago delivering wheat. (not me I hasten to add we just collect the wheatfeed,…honest)
He had to drop the trailer on the weighbridge due to being too heavy for the 50 tonne rated bridge
Got a shock recently when on a weighbridge, said 8140kgs!! I drive a 7.5 ton ‘puddle-jumper’, big old hi-ab behind cab and was loaded with usual stuff (mini diggers, small plant etc).
Told TM, he said aleady asked boss, but won’t upgrade to ‘fit for purpose’ vehicle, nothing wrong with what that. His hands are tied he says.
I can’t afford to leave, (mortgage, wife, kids etc). Boss doesn’t care if I do, plenty out there to replace me!
Advice please, where do I stand, now I’ve read this post.
If you are caught driving an overloaded vehicle you are guilty of an offence, even if it is less than 5% over and just gets you a warning. Overloading is an absolute offence to which you cannot plead not guilty. You can plead guilty and throw in some mitigating circumstances in hope of a more lenient punishment. In your case it would make no difference because you have told the boss etc, if it tips the scales too heavy you are guilty, end of.
Thanks for info, What then, If I went to authorities and told them about what’s going on?? I know that would get me sacked, my licence though!! I can’t go on like this anymore , he just harps on ‘grand little wagon that!!..’ yeah right, until…
The thing to do is go to the nearest weighbridge when you leave the yard, get it weighed then go back to the yard with the ticket and get the excess taken off…After a week or two of doing that, they might work out that the truck isn’t such a
'grand little wagon that!!..
they can’t sack you for that, and if you do loose your job, you will have the weigh bills to prove the reason they got rid of you was because you wouldn’t run bent!
Goldfinger:
Advice please, where do I stand, now I’ve read this post. Been kept in dark about the ’ you’re allowed 10% ’ rule…
Driver is responsible for everything is where you stand. The 10% rule is a load of rubbish. Even at 5%, if you’ve already been caught before then when they check on the computer (its all in a database) you’re likely to get a fine rather than a telling off.
You’ve not been kept in the dark with the 10% rule because no such rule exists. VOSA will exercise discretion on a slight overload but only if you’ve not been caught before. Someone regularly found running 5% over is likely to end up in court with a fine.
, he just harps on ‘grand little wagon that!!..’ yeah right, until…
