hi all
what category do i need on my licence to drive a recovery truck with a vehicle also on spec lift ■■?
many thanks in advance for your help once again
Not the worlds leading expert on these but C1+E if I read the list correctly that on my desk.
Thats for 7.5 tonners with a trailer over 750kgs being towed.
If your on a bigger rigid then I may be wrong but Id read it as you need C+E Class one of old!
does a recovery truck count as a goods vehicle?
Just seems a bit odd to me as the vehicle being recovered is not what i would think of as a trailer, but as it sits on the specs frame then I suppose it is the same as the old definition of an artic as “a vehicle to which a trailer is attached by partial superimposition”.
Is it just me or does it seem that everytime licencing is simplified, it gets more confusing? 
The deffinition of a trailer is anything towed by the vehicle. Apparently!
i used to be on recovery if its a speclift/underlift on heavy recovery you need c+e license the only 1 you can drive on car license is a 7.5 ton 1 were you drive car onto or a transit type were you are just recovering cars etc.
Imp:
Thats for 7.5 tonners with a trailer over 750kgs being towed.
Unless it’s restricted (which it will be if you got it by a pre-1997 car test pass) . In that case the trailer can’t exceed 750 kgs.
hi mate , i drive a 5 car transporter with a spec , i have a class one but i believe you can drive it on a rigid license , i could be wrong but im sure one of our drivers has only a class c . the trailer or 750 kgs (i think) gets a bit confusing .
most good size cars are a ton+ so you would think its over on the spec but its the axle weight so if you front lift a car on the spec the weight on the road of the car is less . i stand to be corrected but i think thats how it works (having a class 1 ive never really looked into it ) . so on a 7.5 tonner you could load on the bed and spec and be ok on axle weight you just gotta watch for the gross . hope that helps
164480:
i used to be on recovery if its a speclift/underlift on heavy recovery you need c+e license the only 1 you can drive on car license is a 7.5 ton 1 were you drive car onto or a transit type were you are just recovering cars etc.
is correct…i also used to do recovery as well…
thanks all great help
got an interview for recovery job and want to go in prepared
got my “C” by the way so i think a 7.5 on back and car on spec will be ok
once again many thanks all who helped 
If you do get the job please fit a light bar and number plate to the rear of the vehicle being towed, I,ve noticed more and more lately that recovery vehicles seem to think hazard flashers will suffice instead of brake lights and direction indicators. Even when the recovered vehicle is as wide and as tall as the recovery truck!
Don’t forget to use all your lights all of the time.
Especially when you have got a single car on the bed.
Otherwise people might not see you. 
Why can’t some of these numpties turn the buggers off, once you’ve recovered it and and you are on the move you are just another vehicle on the move.
not diplaying a light board when you have one on the spec is an imediate prohibition if you get caught by vosa . one of ours got caught , he had a board on the truck but didnt use it . when stopprd he put it on but still got a prohibition then got it lifted , result is it goes on the company record . not worth it , in my view its pure lazyness with no excuse .
if you get the job make sure you know the weights of the vehicle as they vary depending on who made the truck.
know the unlaiden weight, max weight of bed, max weight of spec & running hight of bed & you cant go wrong. large transit type vans on the specs are a no no as they are usually to heavy & a police spinter riot van on the bed will put you overweight.
Its a great job as you get to use your head figuring out how your gonna pick up this car with no wheels or locked up, handbrake on & in park whilst still in a car park between loads of cars.
Your ■■■■■■ block & remote will be your best tools.
Good luck.
robntl:
if you get the job make sure you know the weights of the vehicle as they vary depending on who made the truck.
know the unlaiden weight, max weight of bed, max weight of spec & running hight of bed & you cant go wrong. large transit type vans on the specs are a no no as they are usually to heavy & a police spinter riot van on the bed will put you overweight.Its a great job as you get to use your head figuring out how your gonna pick up this car with no wheels or locked up, handbrake on & in park whilst still in a car park between loads of cars.
Your ■■■■■■ block & remote will be your best tools.Good luck.
Ditto the above theres nothing you cant do when armed with decent hydrolic winch and ■■■■■■ block. If your lucky you might get some sliders of trolly types lifts that you can put under wheels and jack em up to move them easily. But hey a good winch does the same! LOL Easy to get them on special tricks to getting them off though sometimes!
If your using a spec make sure you power it out even if its only a little, failiure to extent it out can lead to going straight on at first corner!
and make sure u strap it on nice and tight…dont want any cars coming off the spec now do we!!!
jayeastanglia:
and make sure u strap it on nice and tight…dont want any cars coming off the spec now do we!!!
Are you trying to tell us something? 
8wheels:
Don’t forget to use all your lights all of the time.Especially when you have got a single car on the bed.
Otherwise people might not see you.
Why can’t some of these numpties turn the buggers off, once you’ve recovered it and and you are on the move you are just another vehicle on the move.
Ha! One of my regular grumbles. These orange beacons are SO unnecessary
once on the move. Same goes for the low bed trailers, why oh why?
worst of all are the big mobile cranes,especially at night.
they travel so slow that you have tp pass them and this means you are only 10-12 feet away from the beacons.
getting back to breakdown trucks, I thought that the law said they can only use their beacons when causing an obstruction, i.e. on the shoulder etc.
Imp:
jayeastanglia:
and make sure u strap it on nice and tight…dont want any cars coming off the spec now do we!!!Are you trying to tell us something?
yep was in a hurry on a pouring down with rain late at night and i thought i strapped the car down tight…I later found out(Well remembered i only tightened the straps down a little…)and as i pulled away the car fell off the spec rippin off the bumper and breaking the radiator…I have only done i once…
Have you been out at all today jc69817, now imagine being stood outside recovering somebody while it is peeing it down, with a freezing cold wind in your face,
Nah, that thought put me off too 