Van owners are not hemmed in by the draconian legislation that governs the activities of heavy truck operators. However, there are laws they must obey, and they can face substantial fines plus licence endorsements if they breach them.
The phrase ‘light commercial vehicle’ describes a goods vehicle – and that includes a pick-up or a bodied vehicle such as a dropside or tipper – grossing at up to 3.5 tonnes. Opt for something heavier – a 4.0- or 5.0-tonner, say – and in the majority of cases you will have to obtain a heavy truck Operator’s Licence. You will also have to have a tachograph fitted and obey the European Union’s heavy truck Drivers Hours rules.
Furthermore, you will have to ensure you hold the appropriate driving licence entitlement before you get behind the wheel. If you passed your car driving test after 1 January 1997 then you will have to take an additional test if you wish to drive a rigid goods vehicle grossing at above 3.5 tonnes.
If you passed your car test prior to that date then you can avail yourself of so-called ‘grandfather rights’, which permit you to drive a rigid goods vehicle grossing at up to 7.5 tonnes. You can be fined up to £1,000 and receive three to six penalty points for driving without the correct licence entitlement.
In addition to the right licence you will have to hold a driver’s Certificate of Professional Competence, which means completing 35 hours of training every five years.
LOADING
Always remember that gross weight describes the total weight of the vehicle including any cargo it may be carrying, the driver and fuel. It does not refer to the vehicle’s maximum permitted payload. Confuse the two and you run the risk of seriously overloading whatever you happen to be driving.
Overloading is an offence that attracts a fine of up to £300. If you are more than 30% overweight, however, then you will be on the receiving end of a court summons and the fine could be substantially more on conviction depending on the gravity of the offence.
There are only two defences to an overloading charge.
One is that the vehicle was being driven to a weighbridge to be weighed or was being driven away from a weighbridge to have excess weight off-loaded.
The other is that the load was legal at the point of departure but increased in weight by up to 5% while the vehicle was being driven without any additional cargo being added. That can occur if a load of sand or timber has absorbed a lot of water during a heavy shower.
If the overload is so serious as to affect the brakes or steering to such an extent that the vehicle presents a danger to other road users then the charge could be the more serious one of using a vehicle in a dangerous condition. If that charge is brought then the two defences outlined above will not apply. Penalties on conviction include a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points on your driving licence, warns the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
Delivering goods in town centres can be an obstacle course because of the loading and unloading restrictions that apply. Yellow vertical lines on the kerb show where you are not allowed to load or unload or if restrictions apply. Any restrictions will be displayed on a nearby sign.
Some roads have loading/unloading bays. They are shown as a white box marked ‘loading’ and again any restrictions will be set out on an adjacent sign.
MOT & TAX
All LCVs must undergo an MoT test annually once they are three years old. They are subjected to a Class 4 test if they gross at up to 3.0 tonnes and to a Class 7 test if they gross at between 3.0 and 3.5 tonnes. The DVSA states that driving a vehicle that requires a current MoT certificate but does not have one can attract a fine of up to £1,000. Drive without insurance and you risk an unlimited fine plus six to eight penalty points on your licence, the agency warns. Fail to tax your van and a fine of up to £1,000 could be on its way.
SPEED LIMITS
Most light commercials are subject to lower speed limits than cars, says the DVSA. While the 70mph motorway limit and the 30mph limit in built-up areas are the same, for LCVs the dual-carriageway limit is 60mph and the single-carriageway limit is 50mph. All these limits apply unless lower limits are posted.
However, car-derived vans with a gross weight not exceeding 2.0 tonnes are subject to higher single- and dual-carriageway limits of 60mph and 70mph respectively, again unless lower limits are posted. Speeding can result in a fine of up to £1,000 rising to £2,500 if the offence is committed on a motorway, says the DVSA. To these penalties can be added three to six licence penalty points.
TACHOGRAPHS
While rigid vehicles grossing at up to 3.5 tonnes do not have to be equipped with a tachograph, the driver is nonetheless still subject to Drivers’ Hours rules. In this case, however, we are talking about the UK’s domestic Drivers’ Hours rules (and not the EU’s), which apply if you drive on business for more than four hours a day.
They restrict you to a total daily driving time of 11 hours – more than enough for any van driver – and you can be fined up to £300 for exceeding the limit.
ALCOHOL
Never, ever drink and drive. It is totally irresponsible and the penalties if you are found to be over the limit can be severe. You are over the drink/drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland if you have alcohol levels of 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood or 107 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine. In Scotland the limits are stricter, at 22µg, 50mg and 67mg respectively. Breach them and you will face a driving ban of at least a year plus a hefty fine.
MOBILE PHONES
Get caught using a hand-held phone while driving and you could end up with six penalty points and a £200 fine. You can also face sanctions if you are using a hands-free phone and the police believe you are distracted and not in proper control of your vehicle.
BRAKES & TYRES
Running on bald tyres or with defective brakes or steering could land you with a fine of up to £2,500 and three points for each offence. If you have four bald tyres then you could end up with 12 points – and that may mean a year-long driving ban. One way of avoiding this calamity is to carry out a daily walk-around check of your vehicle using a smartphone app; the one created by leasing firm Leaseplan is a prime example. It will help ensure that you do not miss anything and that any defects are addressed quickly if your van happens to be on a maintenance agreement.
LONDON
Drive a van into central London and the odds are it will cost you.Enter the Congestion Charge zone from 23 October onwards – Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm excluding Bank Holidays – and you will be hit with an additional £10 a day toxicity charge, or ‘T-charge’ if your vehicle does not meet the Euro4 exhaust emission standard, on top of a Congestion Charge payment.
Go forward to 8 April 2019 and you look set to encounter the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). It too will mirror the Congestion Charge zone, and you will be hit by a daily £12.50 fee 24/7 if your light commercial fails to meet Euro4 (if petrol) or Euro6 (if diesel) standards. It was originally scheduled for introduction in September 2020, but London mayor Sadiq Khan wants to introduce it earlier and use it to replace the T-Charge.
LCVs registered as new before 1 January 2002 may already attract penalties if they enter the, far larger, Low Emission Zone.
Driving in cities can be a nightmare at the best of times and there is always the risk of becoming a crash-for-cash victim. Fitting a dashboard-mounted camera will ensure that exactly what happened is recorded and help you refute any subsequent, illicit, claim.
SmartWitness is among those companies able to supply a sophisticated onboard camera system.
TRAILERS & TOWING
Tow a trailer and you are subject to lower speed limits. While the 30mph restriction still applies in built-up areas, the limits on single- and dual-carriageways and motorways are 50mph, 60mph and 60mph respectively, unless lower limits are posted.
If you passed your car driving test after 1 January 1997 then you may have to take another test if you wish to haul a trailer. Run a 3.5-tonner, for example, and you will have to take an additional test if you are proposing to pull a trailer grossing at above 750kg.
The DVSA advises that in most cases you will have to have a tachograph installed and obey the EU’s heavy truck Drivers’ Hours rules if your vehicle and trailer combination grosses at above 3.5 tonnes. You will also require a heavy truck Operator’s Licence if the combination is higher than 3.5 tonnes gross or if the total unladen weight of the towing vehicle and trailer is above 1.525 tonnes.
However, you will not need an Operator’s Licence if the unladen weight of your trailer is below 1.02 tonnes and you only carry your own goods, the DVSA adds.
SMOKING
Having contemplated all the rules on these pages, an existing or former smoker sitting in his or her van may feel the sudden craving for a cigarette. That craving will probably have to be resisted. Either that or get out of the cab and stand on the pavement before you light up.
That is because smoking is not allowed in any work vehicle that is used by more than one person on pain of a fine of up to £200 (up to £50 in Scotland). Businesses can be fined up to £2,500 if they fail to stop drivers in this situation smoking, and up to £1,000 if there are no ‘No smoking’ signs in the cab.
In Scotland £200 fixed penalty fines are issued rising to £2,500 if the fine is not paid.
Best to admit defeat and give up. It’s a bad habit anyway…
