I have used the search button on this and cant find a link on the legality on pulling a saydutch trailer while using a UK registered prime mover …
Any helpers?
AFAIAA it’s not a problem, UK hauliers pull Dutch/Belgian registered trailers out of the south east ports regularly but you do still need to display your tractor unit’s number plate on the rear, even if it has its own registration plate.
In practical terms you will probably need palm coupling converters.
Not a problem, crack on.
I always check how far back the pin is on the trailer or you might say good bye to anything on the back of your cab, brush, shovel, ropes or fire extinguisher as some leave very little room between them.
I can vouch for the rear number plate because the miserable plod from Leicester Constabulary had £30 off me whilst pulling a French trailer, even though the number plate had “fallen off” immediately prior to him seeing me.
My argument was that it didnt have reflectors or a Long Vehicle plate either but he couldnt touch me for that.
Yes you need the palm couplings & also bulbs,single pin & double pin together with a set of round push in rear lens .Some trailers have the lights fitted & some don’t.You will also need to carry a handle to wind up the legs as many trailers have had them nicked 
I have been pulled & checked a few times by both the police & VOSA,while pulling Dutch registered trailers with no problems. 
Wheel Nut:
I can vouch for the rear number plate because the miserable plod from Leicester Constabulary had £30 off me whilst pulling a French trailer, even though the number plate had “fallen off” immediately prior to him seeing me.
Don’t tell me, he did you for an insecure load*. 
*Poplular Driver’s Myth, current chart position 23.
Thanks for all the answers but as Basil the mouse detective may of once said
“do you have any proof”
Wheel Nut:
I can vouch for the rear number plate because the miserable plod from Leicester Constabulary had £30 off me whilst pulling a French trailer, even though the number plate had “fallen off” immediately prior to him seeing me.My argument was that it didnt have reflectors or a Long Vehicle plate either but he couldnt touch me for that.
should have reported a theft
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jimboy124:
Thanks for all the answers but as Basil the mouse detective may of once said“do you have any proof”
Because it is, alright 
The trailers are registered in their own right in most of Europe, have a look at a Belgian trailer and it will start with U(red&white) or Q(blue&white). Semi Trailers in Holland will start woth O for Oplegger (black&yellow)
M for Motorcycle
Wheel Nut:
I can vouch for the rear number plate because the miserable plod from Leicester Constabulary had £30 off me whilst pulling a French trailer, even though the number plate had “fallen off” immediately prior to him seeing me.My argument was that it didnt have reflectors or a Long Vehicle plate either but he couldnt touch me for that.
did you get points on your licence? cos I’ve heard if you drive with the wrong plte i.e one that a work mate ahas left on a trailer it an offence that carries penalty points too but if you just have no plate it’s just a fixed penalty …so did they do you for having a mis-leading plate on
There’s no endorsement code for having the wrong number plate on a trailer so I would say that is well and truly a MMTM
sankev13:
Wheel Nut:
I can vouch for the rear number plate because the miserable plod from Leicester Constabulary had £30 off me whilst pulling a French trailer, even though the number plate had “fallen off” immediately prior to him seeing me.My argument was that it didnt have reflectors or a Long Vehicle plate either but he couldnt touch me for that.
did you get points on your licence? cos I’ve heard if you drive with the wrong plte i.e one that a work mate ahas left on a trailer it an offence that carries penalty points too but if you just have no plate it’s just a fixed penalty …so did they do you for having a mis-leading plate on
No, just £30 for a missing plate…
jimboy124:
Thanks for all the answers but as Basil the mouse detective may of once said“do you have any proof”
Do you have any proof it isn’t allowed? It would he much easier to find legislation saying it isn’t allowed than saying it is. If something isn’t allowed that has to be stated in some regulation but if something is allowed it doesn’t necessarily have to be mentioned.
Well yes, hundreds of unaccompanied Belgian and Dutch trailers are collected from Ramsgate, Purfleet etc by British tractor units every day, and have been for at least 25 years so I would say that if the practice was illegal, somebody would have noticed by now.
exactly as Harry said.
i did it for years, no problems, just remember to put a numberplate on the trailer, and get some palm couplings, wheather its aTNT trailer or a Heisterkamp rental you will have no probs, maybe a winding handle for the Heisterkamp (other rental trailers are available) trl’s (ive seen lots of those being pulled by the Dutch TNT drivers, thats why i mentioned Heisterkamp particularly)
Just remember that “Estron” is an anagram of “No rest” and you’ll be fine.
Harry Monk:
Just remember that “Estron” is an anagram of “No rest” and you’ll be fine.
I did a very happy year for Estron out of Immingham. I never used to put a number plate on the trailer just incase I missed a gatso and got flashed. A few times our drivers got flashed by speed cameras, usually on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh and Estron in Rotterdam would receive letters or phone calls from the UK demanding the information of the vehicle pulling the trailer…oh how Estron would laugh as they hung up the phone 
I was once reversing with an Estron trailer with my hazard lights on etc and a 7.5 tonner came right up behind me and sat there waving his arms about, obviously he got told to get out of the way and he refused, claiming I was breaking the law as my Dutch registered trailer didnt have a white reverse light so he didnt know I was reversing (despite my obvious backwards motion and flashing lights)…anyway I told him that if he was still behind me by the time I got back in the cab I’d reverse in to him and keep on going until I’d got to where I wanted to be. He had a massive fit at my threat of violence and wrote the number down and called the office in Rotterdam to complain about me. I received a phone call about ten minutes later, I was put on speaker phone with most of the office listening in and they were all laughing their back side off at the whole event. Happy days!
Another thing with the old Estron trailers, 500 series and older, was they had no side guard thingies or marker lights on the side and VOSA and the police would often try and pull us over it, unfortunetely as it was Dutch registered and met Dutch standards there was nothing they could do about it but grumble and try and find something else wrong to save face.
My company has been pulling unaccompanied trailers from the South East and East Coast ports for over forty years,
We currently collect around 80-90 trailers per day so I dearly hope we’ve not been braking the law all these years.
Carry your bulbs/lenses/couplings, fit a rear number plate, check for air leaks and check the tyres and MOST IMPORTANTLY check you haven’t got an ABS warning lamp illuminated as this is a DEFINITE PG9 Prohibition.
And don’t try doing traction work with a 4x2 otherwise you’ll be nicked for being overweight on the pin sooner or later !
K
I pulled a Dutch trailer for Nijman Zeetank for almost 3 years and the only stipulation was that it went back to Holland at least once per year for APK
It had a crank wind on handbrake, no reflectors and palm couplings although it did have a red diamond for a number plate