Rules on Driver’s Hours and Tachographs
“Vehicles used for the carriage of goods by road and with a maximum permissible weight (including any trailer or semi-trailer) of over 3.5 tonnes are in scope of the EU rules. ‘Carriage by road’ is defined as any journey entirely or in part made on roads open to the public of a vehicle, laden or unladen, used for the carriage of passengers or goods.”
That means ANY vehicle or vehicle and trailer combination, including 4X4 ‘cars’ towing trailers, are subject to EU drivers’ hours rules if they are used for the carriage of goods for commercial purposes and have a total permissable weight of over 3.5 tonnes.
Any vehicle subject to EU drivers’ hours must have a tachograph fitted.
Any employed driver who regularly drives a vehicle which is covered by the EU driver’s hours rules is also likely to be subject to the compulsory working hours limits and record-keeping requirements of the Road Transport Directive, even when not driving vehicles under EU rules.
Posted under Keeping It Legal
Posted by Alec at 1:47 pm, March 31, 2008
if you are a small busines, do you also need an o- licence as well as a tacograph if you run a van between 3.5 and 7.5 tons
Yes, if you use a goods vehicle with a GVW of over 3500kg in connection with a business then you need and O Licence.
There’s a simple, brief explanation at http://www.tams-ltd.co.uk/o-licence-checklist/
Do I need a Tacograph for towing my trailer which is 3.5 tonnes gross towing weight for social domestic and pleasure
No, it’s only needed for the commercial carriage of goods or for hire & reward.
doi need a tacograph in my mini bus which is under 3.5 tonnes and is only used for school runs, taking children to and from school.
thank you
I know nothing about tacho rules for passenger vehicles. I know it depends on the number of seats and what the vehicle is used for – whether it’s used on a voluntary basis or for paying passengers.
The information you need will be in this document.
For “Harry”, only vehicles over 8 passenger seats require a tachograph, 8-16 seats will require one AND a D101 (full) licence and a COIF, if you are a taxi operator you can run 2 “minibuses” (9-16 seats) without a CPC/full O-licence)
Do i need a Tacho fitted for this combination.To be used for our own business use non payment or rental.
Trailer Gross Capacity 3500Kg
Load Capacity 2480Kg
Vehicle to go in trailer
SLS Kerb weight 1620Kg GVW 1935kg
Towing vehicle
Mercedes-Benz GL
Towing capacity 3500kg
I believe you would. The requirement for a tacho is triggered by the combination being used for the commercial carriage of goods. This includes anything carried for use by your own business, whether or not payment is received for the carriage. The only possible exemption I can think of which might apply depending on your circumstances is for equipment carried for the driver’s use within 50km of his base.
i am a self employed landscaper. i own an l200 pick up, which i regularly tow a 1.5t mini digger. how do i stand on this regulation? is it just a digi tacho required. tanks
We have a scaffold trailer, operating on a refinery. When it goes off the refinery does it need to have a taco in, it is 7.5 ton GVW. I was told that we dont need to put a tacho in within 50 miles of the operating depot.
hi, I work for a car main dealer, we are looking at running our own delivery service for new and used cars using one of our vehicles and trailer. Please can anyone advise on the best way to go about finding information regarding the supply-fitment of tacho’s?
Hi,do i need an o licence if i occasionally tow a trailer with an 3.5t van,i no i need a tachograph fitting,and my gross weight would be 5 tons,thanks.
As long as the unladen weight of the trailer is less than 1020kg then you won’t need an O licence.*NOTE: From December 4th 2011 ‘small trailers’ towed by a vehicle under 3.5 tonnes and used for hire or reward are no longer exempt from operator licensing. Therefore, if your vehicle combination is used for carrying other people’s goods for hire or reward (e.g. couriers and hauliers) and the maximum allowable weight of your vehicle and trailer together exceed 3,500kg then you need a standard O Licence.
hi, i run a lwb sprinter gvw 3.5t & i am thinking of using a trailer to carry overspill of furniture deliveries etc on occassion,this is commercial use, the gross weight of the trailer would not exceed 2t (1t unladen) (which is within the plated allowance for braked trailering according to the vin plate – 5500kg), does anyone know, would i need to run on tacho? thanks alan
hi any ideas re last question? many thanks alan
Yes – if you attach any trailer to a 3.5t gvw van and use it to carry goods for business purposes then you need a tacho fitted.
Hi many thanks for this site cos i couldnt get any sense from vosa
Hi ,we are a small company , we have load banks (which is a tool) that we tow on our vans VW transporter and toyota hiace’s , all vans have train weights over 3.5t , do our vans need tacho’s as they are tools used in our job and not for hire or reward ??? pleae help
If you’re only carrying equipment for the driver’s use in the course of his work AND the vehicle is used within a 50km (31 miles) radius of base then a tacho’s not needed, otherwise it would be.
Hi I am hiring a 7.5T lorry to move my parents furniture out to Spain do I need to a tacho record?
It’ll almost definitely have one anyway but you don’t need to use it in the UK for private use. I’ve no idea about France or Spain though and the authorities over there are renowned for being picky about everything they possibly can be, particularly with foreigners. I’d be tempted to stick to EU driving hours and use the tacho anyway, just in case. Try asking on the forums on http://www.trucknetuk.com for some proper advice though.
Hi, i have a l200 pick up and a 12ft flat bed ifor williams twin axle beaver tail trailer (car), i have been using it to transport horse drawn vehicles for my own use.
1) do i need a tacho for the above use?
2) roughly what would you say is my top legal weight i can carry?
3) im looking into doing the occassional car transport work for extra income, will i need a tacho?
Many thanks
Hello,
Have scoured the internet without any specific / detailed result and no response to this paste yet from VOSA.
The query being (summing up) the definition of “hire/reward” or “commercial purposes” relating to the subject.
A person uses a vehicle combination, light commercial vehicle + vehicle transporter trailer of gross weight and over distance requiring a tachograph to be fitted according to regulations / legislation.
BUT the vehicle being transported is their own property (purchased just prior to transportation) to be used or disposed of at that persons discretion.
The transported vehicle is taken to that persons home or base to be used / disposed of or dismantled at a later time, with any further transportation of that vehicle or it’s remnants subsequently being limited within the tachograph free distance prescribed.
Somewhat similar to a person purchasing and transporting a scrapper for stock car racing and later selling the wreck/parts (within 50km of home/base).
Is a tachograph required in such overall circumstance and if so why.
Thank you for your time.
Hmm, must be a problem with this one (above) – given lack of response here and indeed more importantly from VOSA.
Shall presume a tachograph need not be fitted. Argue the case in Court should it come to that.
I’ve not answered because I’d be guessing. I understand the law as it applies to vehicles used for courier work but I’ve no need to know anything else. I can make a couple of educated guesses though.
The 50km get out isn’t relevant anyway unless you’re doing breakdown recovery is it? So that’s a blind alley.
If what you’re describing is being done as a ‘hobby’, with any commercial gain you might make being incidental and anyway only used towards you carrying out that ‘hobby’ then it’s not business use and there’s no need to worry about a tacho.
If however you run it as a business, even if it only produces a small profit, then I think you’d need a tacho.
As I say though, it’s a bit outside my area of knowledge.
Thanks for your input and time Alec, so far as I am aware the 50km aspect relieves any requirement as applies to financial gain.
Presumably a driver would not suffer fatigue towing a trailer during a 100km round trip, indeed similar apparently applies to someone driving privately (with or without trailer)from one end of the land to the other in a day !
There are incentives other than financial to do so but presumably common sense would prevail regarding stops/breaks.
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/Transport_Theme_files/Goods_vehicles_tachograph_hours_1111_3.pdf
There are specific exemptions for some vehicles/activities. The only exemptions which could conceivably apply are:
“Specialised breakdown vehicles operating within a 100 km radius of their base.”
“Vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes that are used: …for carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of his work. These vehicles shall be used only within a 50 km radius of the base of the undertaking and on the condition that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main activity.”
“Vehicles used for the carriage of goods within a 50 km radius from the base of the undertaking and propelled by means of natural or liquefied gas or electricity”
I assume that none of the above apply, so you’re left with:
“Vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes used for the non-commercial carriage of goods.”
The decider for whether the activity is ‘non-commercial’ seems to me to be similar to the difference between a market-trader towing a trailer to market and an individual towing a trailer to a car boot sale. The extremes are easy to identify but there’s an obvious grey area between them.
Thanks for the lightning response Alec, in addition to the purely logical basis (fatigue applies to all drivers irrespective of carriage / incentive), the “grey” area is sufficient to rely upon in event of legal proceedings – as any burden of proof rests with the accuser.
Thanks again – still awaiting VOSA input regarding this tachograph ‘minefield’.