Plated weights

[Surfer]

This was on another forum. Perhaps the "experts" care to comment.

A friend of mine was stopped by the police on Sunday towing a flat bed trailer (empty) behind his Vectra estate. He was delivering the trailer to another friend and wasn't going to be carrying a load. The trailer had an unladen weight of 600kgs and a maximum weight of 2200kgs. As the PLATED maximum weight was over his cars towing limit he had to leave the trailer and get someone else with a Discovery to collect it.
So, although his actual "load" was small (600kgs) because it was plated to have the potential to weigh more than his maximum towing limit he fell foul of the law. The police were very good & polite and explained everything to him, but its something to bear in mind as there is a belief held by some that its the actual weight of the trailer, not the plated weight.

I think the police may have twisted the regulations a bit for their own purpose. I was under the impression that it was the gross maximum train weight that counted for purposes fo "breaking the law".

 

[Lutz]

Did your friend only have a category B licence? If so, it was the driving licence restriction which didn't allow him to tow a trailer with a plated weight of 2200kg, because that is based on plated (i.e.maximum allowable) weight, not actual weight.
Technically, however, it's the actual weight that counts. In other words, the maximum towload, that the car manufacturer specifies refers to the actual load, not the plated weight..

 

[Surfer]

As I said, taken from another forum and not my friend. Surely a Cat B licence would still allow you to tow a trailer if the gross train weight is below 3500kgs. The main problem is that the police officer is always right even when he is wrong so you do not argue with them.

 

[kelvin3]

This is taken from www.ntta.co.uk/faq

What unbraked trailer can I tow? You can tow a maximum of 750 Kg with an unbraked trailer but you cannot exceed half the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. You can tow a trailer with a Gross Weight higher than your car’s towing limit as long as you only load it up to that limit. It is illegal to exceed the car’s towing limit.

 

[Lutz]

As I said, taken from another forum and not my friend. Surely a Cat B licence would still allow you to tow a trailer if the gross train weight is below 3500kgs. The main problem is that the police officer is always right even when he is wrong so you do not argue with them.

I would imagine that the max. GVW of a Vectra estate plus a trailer with a maximum allowable weight of 2200kg exceeds 3500kg and would therefore be beyond the limit for a Category B licence.

 

[Surfer]

As I said, taken from another forum and not my friend. Surely a Cat B licence would still allow you to tow a trailer if the gross train weight is below 3500kgs. The main problem is that the police officer is always right even when he is wrong so you do not argue with them.

I would imagine that the max. GVW of a Vectra estate plus a trailer with a maximum allowable weight of 2200kg exceeds 3500kg and would therefore be beyond the limit for a Category B licence.

If the trailer was loaded! The vectra's maximum braked towing weight is 1600kg but not sure of maximum train weight. Also found this which is a government pamplet but does not mention plated weight.

 

[Lutz]

If the trailer was loaded! The vectra's maximum braked towing weight is 1600kg but not sure of maximum train weight. Also found this which is a government pamplet but does not mention plated weight.

But for driving licence purposes it's not the actual weight that counts, it's the maximum allowable. According to the data that I have at hand, the max. GVW of a Vectra estate is 2030kg. Add to that the maximum trailer weight of 2200kg one arrives at a total of 4230kg which is way over the 3500kg limit for a category B licence.
However, if your friend has a Category B+E licence he could tow with the trailer loaded up to 1600kg (plus the noseweight), because then it's only the actual towload that determines the limit.
Granted, the information put out by the government doesn't talk about plated weights, but about MAM (maximum authorised mass). However, that's the same as the plated weight.

 

[Surfer]

To summarise it appears from a number of web sites and forums including government web sites that as long as you do not exceed the MAM train weights, you are okay, but then again a number of sites state the opposite. I suppose thbat a test case would be required to clarify the law if you challenge a ticket issued by a police officer for towing an empty trailer which is below the maximum braked towing capacity of the car and also the maximum gross train weight, but has a plated MAM above the towing capacity of the car

 

[Lutz]

Actually, the law is quite clear and unambiguous and there is no need for a test case. For driving licence purposes it's the maximum plated limits that count, for all other purposes, the actual weights.

 

[Surfer]

Actually, the law is quite clear and unambiguous and there is no need for a test case. For driving licence purposes it's the maximum plated limits that count, for all other purposes, the actual weights.

But isn't it the car's plate that is taken into consideration over and above that of the trailer? Surely the law has not been broken as the trailer being towed is braked and weighing in at 600kg therefore the combined MAM is below the threshold.

 

[Lutz]

No, because the car's max. GVW is read from the car's plate, but the trailer's MTPLM is read from its plate. The maximum permissible towload (which is derived from the car's plate) is irrelevant as far as driving licence requirements are concerned.
According to the directgov website, for Category B licence "The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can’t weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle" and that seems quite clear to me.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Surfer,

I think you are getting confused between the regulations that relate to the tow vehicle and the regulations that apply to what the driver is allowed drive.

You also stated "as the trailer being towed is braked and weighing in at 600kg therefore the combined MAM is below the threshold."

MAM stands for Maximum Authorised Mass. This is the designed maximum weight a car or trailer can be. equivalent acronyms are GVW for the tow vehicle and MTPLM for the trailer. These figures are fixed and do not alter if you add or remove any load.

 

[X5Neil]

Hi all. It is what the trailer can be loaded in total, the fact it is empty does not matter It's the same as a HGV unit is plated to 44 tonne and as a solo unit only weighs say 7.5 tonne it still could not go down a weight limited road of 7.5 tonne as it ,would still be classed as 44 tonne as this is what it is capable of pulling.
Probably could have worded it better English not my strong suit I'm afraid.
Neil