2040 unladen would be what is written on the V5 - that is different to kerb weight which is higher
What is on the V5 for your 4x4 ?
Not sure - only just bought it and waiting for the V5 to come back.
VOSA would use mfrs figures anyway regardless of whether you take stuff out, if you are erring on the side of caution you have to be right.
brados:
VOSA would use mfrs figures anyway regardless of whether you take stuff out, if you are erring on the side of caution you have to be right.
It might be worth seeing about getting the unladen weight altered on the V5, for extra comfort, but this isn’t some dodge it’s a perfectly valid exemption and if you’ve got a tachograph you are obviously not a rogue operator so personally I think the likelihood of them pursuing a prosecution rather than just saying ‘apply for an o-licence’ is slim.
Unladen weight is pretty unequivocal it’s the weight of the vehicle minus driver, passengers and cargo and if VOSA did stop you they should weigh it as such and if they refused to it would make it likely their case would fail at court - I suspect they would refuse on health and safety grounds in reality as they would theoretically have to empty the fuel tank too.
Pendaric:
Cheers. I use the Trooper to pull a trailer transporting cars, so spreading the weight isn’t really an option. The Trooper is good because it can pull 3.5 ton, so after taking a ton off for the trailer it leaves you with enough allowance to cover 99% of the cars out there.A Trooper has an unladen weight of 2080kg, so 40kg over, but I do take the back seats out so I can set up a mattress and sleeping bag arrangement and I reckon that takes care of that - that’s my story and I’m sticking to it anyway! As said, I think it would be hard for VOSA to establish what is unladen weight and what is equipment, because I carry a fair bit of tools.
This dual allowance thing is really good for me, because to be honest I was buggering on just expecting to be pulled and taken off the road. It’s a relief to know I actually am in order.
In terms of taking stuff off, there’s the option of taking the spare wheel and mount off the back door and putting on the trailer.
My experience with VOSA roadside pulls and 3.5t towing is they instantly lose interest as soon as they discover you have a tacho fitted.
You can tow 3.5t with an Isuzu pick-up you will just exceed the manufacturers recommended towing capacity but you will be within the gross train weight provided you don’t put too much in the pick-up bed. I would put some sort of ballast in though to steady the combination a bit.
ROG:
Own Account Driver:
The problem is the dual-purpose definition stems from construction and use regulations from 1986 and vehicles have got much heavier. Basically you need a 4x4 that is less than 2040 kgs unladen.Why is that not mentioned in the VOSA info ?
Could it be possible that for O licences that definition does not apply?
Hard to tell. Generally from a legal point of view definitions like this are considered consistent when applied to different scenarios. However, VOSA have allowed a mess to develop by interpreting the same definitions differently when it suits them to like, for example, interpreting ‘hire and reward’ to mean any commercial activity where towing 3.5t trailers in concerned but meaning only carrying other people’s goods for money when talking about operator’s licences for vehicles over 3.5t.