Hi, i saw a Scania T cab today on the M1 pulling a 20foot container, it got me wondering how suitable is a T cab for haulage work ? does it have limitations on some jobs more than others etc…
tobytyke:
Hi, i saw a Scania T cab today on the M1 pulling a 20foot container, it got me wondering how suitable is a T cab for haulage work ? does it have limitations on some jobs more than others etc…
A Scania “T” cab is fine for haulage work, but it does have some limitations.
The main limitation is that it cannot be legally coupled to all trailers, due to overall length issues. The length limit for an artic in the UK is 16.5 metres. There are also other issues to consider, most of which can be found in the Construction and Use Regulations.
As you observed, the “T” cab can legally be coupled to a 20’ skelly for container work. There are a number of “T” cabs hauling tankers and trailers for steel or glass. So, yes there are limitations.
If a T cab was pulling a 13.9m trailor how much would it be breaking the law by in length ?
tobytyke:
If a T cab was pulling a 13.9m trailor how much would it be breaking the law by in length ?
Several factors here, I’m afraid. The easy answer is that if the whole vehicle, when coupled, exceeds 16.5 metres in length then the law has been broken. That part is fairly straightforward, it’s not a question of “how much,” it’s either overlength or it isn’t.
In another topic, Lucy made the point that there’s also a turning circle requirement, and that’s as true as what I’ve written above. In fact, both of those requirements must be met in order to satisfy the law.
If the first one above isn’t satisfied, there’s little point in trying to see whether the vehicle meets the second requirement. Any vehicle is only legal on the road when it meets all relevant requirements.
This is a much smaller point, but interesting nevertheless:
Are you sure the trailer is 13.9m 
If so, where exactly did you measure from and to
Dave i used 13.9m purely coz i saw one for sale lol and knew that it was quite a long un, so basically a T cab has to stick too 40 footers 
PS Dave im conscious your training and forgot to ring u Friday am again, whens best to catch you ?
tobytyke:
Dave i used 13.9m purely coz i saw one for sale lol and knew that it was quite a long un, so basically a T cab has to stick too 40 footers
It still has to meet all relevant requirements, sorry if that appears to be a poor answer, but it’s still true. There are a number of factors still in play.
tobytyke:
PS Dave im conscious your training and forgot to ring u Friday am again, whens best to catch you ?
Between 19:30 and 23:00 any day this week.
Oh cheers Dave, i presumed it was an office hours number so didn’t ring it 
dieseldave:
tobytyke:
If a T cab was pulling a 13.9m trailor how much would it be breaking the law by in length ?
Several factors here, I’m afraid. The easy answer is that if the whole vehicle, when coupled, exceeds 16.5 metres in length then the law has been broken. That part is fairly straightforward, it’s not a question of “how much,” it’s either overlength or it isn’t.
It would be 40 centimetres overlength…6 words, why dieseldave has to use so many to say it, I don’t know
Patches:
dieseldave:
tobytyke:
If a T cab was pulling a 13.9m trailor how much would it be breaking the law by in length ?Several factors here, I’m afraid. The easy answer is that if the whole vehicle, when coupled, exceeds 16.5 metres in length then the law has been broken. That part is fairly straightforward, it’s not a question of “how much,” it’s either overlength or it isn’t.
Patches:
It would be 40 centimetres overlength…
How do you know that (I don’t mind how many words you’d prefer to use.)
Patches:
6 words, why dieseldave has to use so many to say it, I don’t know
If you don’t know, why not PM me and ask?
Since you put it in an open forum, my reasons are as follows:
#1 At the time of writing the question tobytyke had only recently joined.
#2 tobytyke has yet to gain his LGV licence.
#3 tobytyke has absolutely no idea of our industry (His words, not mine.)
#4 tobytyke has expressed a wish to learn. (He and I have exchanged a number of PMs on this and other subjects.)
#5 tobytyke is coming into our industry, having been in an unconnected industry for many years.
#6 As a driver of over 25 years standing and an instructor of several logistics qualifications, I’ve always believed that a good question deserves a good answer.
If you consider your short answer of “It would be 40 centimetres overlength…” I still believe that the answer is not quite as straightforward as you suggest, hence the reason for my question above.
Aside from the six reasons above, tobytyke put this put his original question in this forum but possibly did so in error. You might wonder why I wrote the answer in the way that I did, if you weren’t aware of that. From that point of view, I’d agree with you, in this forum my answer was probably a bit wordy.
dieseldave:
Patches:
It would be 40 centimetres overlength…How do you know that
I’m guessing Patches is basing his answer purely on the trailer length TT asked about. If that is the case then he is still wrong by 10 centimetres anyway. 
Coffeeholic:
dieseldave:
Patches:
It would be 40 centimetres overlength…How do you know that
I’m guessing Patches is basing his answer purely on the trailer length TT asked about. If that is the case then he is still wrong by 10 centimetres anyway.
My thoughts exactly.
Now for the devilish bit I originally queried tobytyke’s 13.9M as an aside, so I asked how he’d measured it, but he said he’d got that figure from an advert he saw. I had been waiting to ask whether he’d included the rubber bump stops on the back of the trailer 
They’re usually 10cm ish.
heres one for the technical types, can a t cab legally pul an extended trailer?
not something i’ve ever seen done and to be honest i’ve know idea why anyone would want a t cab for anything in the first place but i’d still be interested in the answer.
Rikki’s your man for that, his T-Cab pulled an extended low-loader when he was on the planers, STGO 2 IIRC. Do a search on here and it should come up.