Trailer test

[Lawrie]

This is a bu@@ers muddle but the Caravan Club has said that that if you've got a 2 ton SUV, your caravan might put you over the 3.5 ton limit.  The Gross train weight of the RR is about 6 tons so why have MAM too.

I'll look at the CC site later as they make it clear - I have another sprint to organise

[mikef]

The system uses Gross Vehicle Weight (gvw UK) or Maximum Authorised Mass (mam EU) which are one and the same and are theoretical maximum weights.  Every vehicle has a gvw or mam plate on it (or it should have). There are 2 reasons for this:

1. In the commercial vehicle world driving licences, operators licences and VED are geared to the theoretical maximum weights (gvw or mam) of the vehicles.

2. Without this system there would be no way of enforcing the driving licence regulations without taking the vehicle/trailer to a weigh bridge every time.

There are lots of anomalies in the system such as bridge weight limits.  For example, an arctic tractor unit by itself and actually weighing some 7 tonnes cannot legally go over a a 10 tonne gvw bridge weight limit.  That is because most tractor units are plated at 17 tonnes. An empty rigid lorry weighing some 10 tonnes cannot go over a 17 tonne gvw bridge because most of them are plated at 18 tonnes gvw.  Again, without the plating system, all enforcement would have to be via a weigh bridge.

Hope that helps.

[jeff oakley]

To be honest for the potential of being found out on a technicality, just do the test. It is not that hard to pass and once you have it you will always be fully legal. It is another example of an idea that was ill thought out to deal with a problem that never really existed.

[Mitchfc]

 As long as the MAM (Maximum Authorise Mass) of the towing vehicle and the trailer don't exceed 3500kg then you wouldn't need to the do the test. Last year I drove a VW caddy and a PRG minisporter with out having to do the test because I got the trailer down plated. The caddy had a MAM of around 2150kg and the trailer only weighed 500kg and the megabusa was around another 500/600kg so I got the MAM of the trailer down pelted to 1349kg so the combined MAM of the towing vehicle and the trailer was 3499kg meaning that I wouldn't have to do the trailer test. 

 This year I have just brought a PRG  XW Tracsporter as my new westfield is wider and wouldn't fit in the old trailer. As the caddy cannot legally pull the new trailer because it is too heavy for that vehicle I will be towing it with my wives Audi Q7 and down plating is now not an option as the car and trailer are too heavy with rather high MAM's so just after Christmas I took my trailer test and I'm glad that I did. Although it's another annoying expense I can now tow anything up to the towing vehicles maximum towing capacity without needing to worry. A full day off training and a half day before the test was around £350 and the test its self was £115. It was a bit of a pain in the bum but since doing it I'm really glad I did it so would advice just get it done if can you'll be glad you did it down the line. If your not glad now you I'm sure in future if you get a caravan, larger trailer etc you will be?

Good luck Mitch  

[Lawrie]

Can't find what I was looking for, but these links are helpful

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/AdvicePdfs/Datasheet-20.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/what-you-can-tow

[Mitchfc]

This video is a must watch before the test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSL0bbEC8Vk

I must of watched it about 50 times 

 

[BenD]

reviving another old thread. im  about to take my trailer test so i can get a bigger trailer. i have a question for the collective. my astra sports tourer has a towing limit of 1500kgs braked. once ive passed my test i may end up with a trailer that can carry say 2ton for arguments sake. because the trailer can carry that load does that mean my tow car must be able to tow that as its maximum or can i get away with as long as the combined trailer load and trailer weight is less than 1500kgs ill stil be legal or do i need to buy a tow car that can tow the same weight as the gross weight of the trailer thoughts?

[AdamR]

IIRC, if challenged, you can ask Mr Plod to escort you to a weighbridge, and if your trailer + whatever is on it is less than 150kkg (no matter what's shown on the trailer plate) you're good.

You can re-plate your trailer though, to show maximum gross of 1495kg, say, which is what I'd do. Make sure the brake mechanism in the tow hitch is correctly rated though! I've heard stories of people down-plating trailers to, say, 1400kg and the braking mechanism is rated for 1600-2500kg, which then renders the whole thing illegal.

[TAFKARM]

Simple really isn’t it? 

[AdamR]

Clear as mud!

[jeff oakley]

And to add to all this, if you want to tow a trailer in the EU going forward, the trailer has to have it's own registration number. It says basically any commercial trailer needs to be registered and any over 3500kg. What is not clear is what is not commercial?

If you tow a car trailer to say the ring which you own is that none commercial. You can bet certain country police will take the cash even if it is not.

Good luck with the test

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trailer-registration

[iowlee]

1 hour ago, jeff oakley said:

And to add to all this, if you want to tow a trailer in the EU going forward, the trailer has to have it's own registration number. It says basically any commercial trailer needs to be registered and any over 3500kg. What is not clear is what is not commercial?

If you tow a car trailer to say the ring which you own is that none commercial. You can bet certain country police will take the cash even if it is not.

Good luck with the test

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trailer-registration

Just thought I would go on to the DVLA to see how to register and costs etc.

Here is the reply below.

Lee

 

Thank you for showing interest in our trailer registration service.

At this stage, we are only looking to on board trailers being registered for commercial use.

Trailers not being used commercially can still be registered (criteria outlined below) but not at this stage, you will be able to do this in the very near future.

All Commercial trailers weighing over 750kg in gross weight and non-commercial trailers weighing over 3500kg in gross weight when travelling internationally will need to be registered.
 
This means that these trailers making these journeys will need to:

• Be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
• Display their own registration plate (separate from the vehicle towing them)
• Be able to present the UK trailer registration certificate (VTRC) to a foreign authority on request

Trailers solely used in the UK do not need to be registered.

More information about when you should be able to register should be available on Gov.uk over the coming weeks.