Can i drive this van?

[Ziggy122]

I have only a car licence (Cat B) and (B+E)

Can i drive this van on it?
Since Cat B is MAM upto 3500kg

So does that mean i actually need a Cat C1?



Ziggy

 

[Andy Monty]

I have only a car licence (Cat B) and (B+E)

Can i drive this van on it?
Since Cat B is MAM upto 3500kg

So does that mean i actually need a Cat C1?

View attachment 160532

Ziggy

Yes the MGW is 3500kg.....


the 5750kg is the max towing weight..

Category B

You can drive vehicles up to 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) with up to 8 passenger seats (with a trailer up to 750kg).

Category B+E

You can drive a category B vehicle with a MAM of 3,500kg with a trailer with a MAM over 750kg.

You can also tow a trailer with a MAM greater than 750kg as long as the combined weight of the category B vehicle and trailer doesn’t exceed a MAM of 3,500kg.



Medium-sized vehicles
Category C1

You can drive vehicles weighing between 3,500 and 7,500kg (with a trailer up to 750kg).

Category C1+E

You can drive C1 category vehicles with a trailer over 750kg, but the trailer - when fully loaded - can’t weigh more than the vehicle.

The combined weight of both can’t exceed 12,000kg

 

[Ziggy122]

Im not gonna tow with the van
No trailer lol

But im fine to drive it on my cat b then?

Ziggy

 

[jrkitching]

Im not gonna tow with the van
No trailer lol

But im fine to drive it on my cat b then?

Ziggy

Yes, you can drive this van without a trailer on a B licence.

Interesting question; if you were to overload it (and I'm not for a moment suggesting that you would), then clearly you'd be committing the offence of driving an overloaded vehicle, but would you also be committing a licence offence?

Logic suggests that you'd still fall within the licensing rules, since its maximum authorised mass is still 3500kg, even if you're carrying some additional unauthorised mass.

 

[Ziggy122]

Yes, you can drive this van without a trailer on a B licence.

Interesting question; if you were to overload it (and I'm not for a moment suggesting that you would), then clearly you'd be committing the offence of driving an overloaded vehicle, but would you also be committing a licence offence?

Logic suggests that you'd still fall within the licensing rules, since its maximum authorised mass is still 3500kg, even if you're carrying some additional unauthorised mass.

If it was 3501kg in thoery id be done for overloading vs not driving with the correct licence I would have thought


Ziggy

 

[jrkitching]

If it was 3501kg in thoery id be done for overloading vs not driving with the correct licence I would have thought

That's my take on it too - but I've no idea what the actual legal position is.

I hired this (on a C1 licence) for my last house move but one; I suspect it would be quite easy to exceed the 7490kg plated weight.

Though unlawful, you'd have to overload it by a lot before it became unsafe; IIRC the chassis is designed for at least 10,000kg.

With hindsight, I'd have done much better to get a smaller van and do two trips. Loading and unloading was exhausting, and took a long time.

Cost a fair bit in fuel, too - even with my careful driving style, I only saw about 15mpg.

For the last move, I hired a 3500kg van with a tail lift; splitting the work into two journeys made it all more manageable and it was a lot easier to drive. Doing without a tail lift would be purgatory.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Yes, you can drive this van without a trailer on a B licence.

He can drive it with a trailer on a cat b licence as long as the trailer isn't over 750kg and the total combined weight isn't over 3500kg

If you were 3501kg I think they would use a little discretion.

A few KG over the police would making you lose a few KG but dangerously over loaded they'd probably just do you for the overloaded bit and not bother with the licence..... Unless you really pi$$ed off the copper then he might be inclined to dig deeper

 

[portland_bill]

As the Gross vehicle weight is 3500kg, it is a catB vehicle.

If you overload it, you commit the offence of overloading, but not the licence offence. The licence permits driving a vehicle with a gross veh weight of 3500kg, which it is, regardless of the actual load.

jrkitching, surely that pic is a 7.5tonne truck, requiring a C1 licence.

 

[jrkitching]

jrkitching, surely that pic is a 7.5tonne truck, requiring a C1 licence.

It is, hence my second sentence.

I posted it to illustrate the risk of overloading a hired vehicle - it occurred to me after using it to move house that I hadn't even looked at the plate to work out the permitted payload, and the hire company didn't mention it, either.

They didn't provide any driving instructions, either - despite my not having driven anything with airbrakes for over 30 years.

I'd caution anyone against hiring something this large if their previous driving experience is limited to passenger cars. The 3 1/2 tonner I used for the second move was, in comparison, a breeze to drive.

 

[portland_bill]

Got it! Paid more attention this time. Difficult to get pic and sentence together. I read teh last sentence, saw the pic. 2+2=5

 

[colin79666]

I'd caution anyone against hiring something this large if their previous driving experience is limited to passenger cars. The 3 1/2 tonner I used for the second move was, in comparison, a breeze to drive.

That and anyone with a licence since 1997 will by default not be permitted beyond 3.5 tonne (unless you took a HGV test).
I drove this on my car license back when I worked for a certain supermarket. You can get 3 pallets of quality street in the back with room to spare. Problem was they wanted 4 moving and that wouldn't fit and would have gone over the weight limit anyway. Wasn't much fun in the snow which came the day after this photo!