In's and out's of running a truck

[Juggler]

As a bit of a hobby, myself and my father buy and sell various bits & bobs, old tractors, machinery, anything really. I've been thinking about buying a 12 or 18t 4x2 beavertail truck to move stuff round, give myself the option of looking further afield, going to the odd sale etc.
I've got a Class 1 (or whatever the modern equivalent is called) but not used regularly, do I just need a CPC and I'm good to go?
Also, if I'm just buying machinery myself and selling them what are the rules re maintenance and 6 week checks etc? I wouldn't be looking at doing hire & reward work for others and wouldn't be used daily.
Just a thought at this stage.

Thanks in advance.

 

[njneer]

I think you can still get a restricted operators licence for hauling entirely your own stuff only no hire or reward for others.
Still
Need a CPC and operators
Licence and still need regular maintenance and records but maintenance intervals are on a sliding scale of type of work and mileage per year so you doing a lesser mileage on mainly road haulage may be able to stretch maintenance inspections to 10 or 12 weeks where as , for example , a high mileage timber or tipper going off road would be reduced to 4 - 6 week intervals due to the harsher work.
Contact your local Vosa office and they will advise acccordingly , they are not the devil incarnate that many like to portray them to be , reasonable people doing a necessary job.
That get a bad rep but just thing of the death traps that could be on the road if they weren’t there.

 

[Netherfield]

Questions about farm lorries

I’m looking into buying a Beavertail lorry (14-18t) to transport my tractor and match plough around. The easy way to do this is to register it for private use and keep it completely outside the farm. As far as I can see it would need an annual test, a calibrated tacho and I would have to comply...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[Juggler]

I think you can still get a restricted operators licence for hauling entirely your own stuff only no hire or reward for others.
Still
Need a CPC and operators
Licence and still need regular maintenance and records but maintenance intervals are on a sliding scale of type of work and mileage per year so you doing a lesser mileage on mainly road haulage may be able to stretch maintenance inspections to 10 or 12 weeks where as , for example , a high mileage timber or tipper going off road would be reduced to 4 - 6 week intervals due to the harsher work.
Contact your local Vosa office and they will advise acccordingly , they are not the devil incarnate that many like to portray them to be , reasonable people doing a necessary job.
That get a bad rep but just thing of the death traps that could be on the road if they weren’t there.

Questions about farm lorries

I’m looking into buying a Beavertail lorry (14-18t) to transport my tractor and match plough around. The easy way to do this is to register it for private use and keep it completely outside the farm. As far as I can see it would need an annual test, a calibrated tacho and I would have to comply...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

Thanks both, did a search before posting but didn't see that thread

 

[Netherfield]

It's one of those headaches I'm glad I don't have anymore.

 

[Juggler]

It's one of those headaches I'm glad I don't have anymore.

Probably won't bother if it's that much of a pain!

 

[Timbo]

To my mind you will need a normal non-restricted Operators as you are not selling your own stuff - you are trading stuff in and out.
You will need CPC plus courses as & when
You will need a nominated recognised Mechanic / workshop.
You will need upto 12 week checks (depending on use)
You will need tacho, as necessary calibrations and drivers card that is downloaded etc
You will probably need public liability ins.

 

[Juggler]

To my mind you will need a normal non-restricted Operators as you are not selling your own stuff - you are trading stuff in and out.
You will need CPC plus courses as & when
You will need a nominated recognised Mechanic / workshop.
You will need upto 12 week checks (depending on use)
You will need tacho, as necessary calibrations and drivers card that is downloaded etc
You will probably need public liability ins.

That's great, thank you. Yes you're right about the trading.
I'm guessing driver & manager CPC?
Any idea of typical costs of the 12 week check?
I have PLI with the farm but would need to check the use of the lorry would be covered.
Thanks again

 

[Timbo]

That's great, thank you. Yes you're right about the trading.
I'm guessing driver & manager CPC?
Any idea of typical costs of the 12 week check?
I have PLI with the farm but would need to check the use of the lorry would be covered.
Thanks again

Approx £100 unless it needs work, plus an annual MOT prep & service work- depends on the lorry! You could do some / all of that yourself though.

What you absolutely do not want is a fail at MOT time since you'll fall from a green to amber or red and be a sitting duck for a VOSA stop. If you change lorry, this rating carries through to the new vehicle.

 

[Juggler]

Approx £100 unless it needs work, plus an annual MOT prep & service work- depends on the lorry! You could do some / all of that yourself though.

What you absolutely do not want is a fail at MOT time since you'll fall from a green to amber or red and be a sitting duck for a VOSA stop. If you change lorry, this rating carries through to the new vehicle.

That's a huge help, thank you.

 

[Netherfield]

Approx £100 unless it needs work, plus an annual MOT prep & service work- depends on the lorry! You could do some / all of that yourself though.

What you absolutely do not want is a fail at MOT time since you'll fall from a green to amber or red and be a sitting duck for a VOSA stop. If you change lorry, this rating carries through to the new vehicle.

With ANPR they can likely know everything about you and the vehicle before you come to a stop.

 

[Timbo]

With ANPR they can likely know everything about you and the vehicle before you come to a stop.

They do, thats how they know to pull ya

 

[chaffcutter]

When we ran our trucks we had a visit from VOSA, the local agents were doing our MOT's and when finding a fault they recorded a fail, then did the rectification and issued a pass. This screwed up our pass statistics so they got a rocket from VOSA iirc.

 

[betweenthelines]

Won't be Farmer's Goods as you are using the truck for non agricultural work.
Unless you are a qualified mechanic, I expect DVSA will insist on a recognised HGV garage doing the 6 weekly inspections.

If you're the driver, you will have to comply with drivers hours regs, some of which are:

Only allowed to do any work (not just driving) 6 day's/ week, must have 2 rest days together in a two week period (again this means no other work is allowed) No more than 15 hours spread of working hours in a day, no more than 60 hours work in a week.

As a (not very) extreme example, say you plan to do no work every other weekend to be compliant, if someone rings you on Saturday afternoon to ask about something you have for sale, and you answer their call, you will have broken your 45 hr break rule

This list is not exhaustive, but as you can see, it's nearly impossible to be a "part time" HGV driver.

 

[Netherfield]

If your Nominated garage do make a mistake, it's still down to you and can stain your record, local ERF garage did a brakedrum recall repair on one of mine, went for the test the day after failed on no effort on one front brake, and only 20% on the other, garage had removed the brake drums and never adjusted the brakes upon fitting the new ones, they should also have fitted new linings with the drums but failed to do that either. Ended with a GV9, although it was removed when the garage admitted their fault.

 

[atlas]

I would think you would be ok on a restricted operators as you will only be moving items you own .

 

[jackp]

To my mind you will need a normal non-restricted Operators as you are not selling your own stuff - you are trading stuff in and out.
You will need CPC plus courses as & when
You will need a nominated recognised Mechanic / workshop.
You will need upto 12 week checks (depending on use)
You will need tacho, as necessary calibrations and drivers card that is downloaded etc
You will probably need public liability ins.

Restricted operators licence is ok as not doing haulage for other people , Eg hire or reward , he is only hauling his own goods that he buys and sells

 

[Timbo]

Restricted operators licence is ok as not doing haulage for other people , Eg hire or reward , he is only hauling his own goods that he buys and sells

Yes, that is reward.

 

[betweenthelines]

Restricted licence is fine if hauling goods you own. Milk processors deliver milk to customers using a Restricted O Licence but if they pay a haulier to deliver the milk, the haulier needs a full (National) O Licence.

I used to work for a well known Dairy that had over 1000 trucks. As they just delivered their own milk, they ran on a Restricted O Licence. When they wanted to do back hauls for other Food companies, they did so on my Manager CPC while they trained up the other managers

But whatever the O licence, the rules for drivers are the same.

 

[jackp]

Yes, that is reward.

Well we have had vosa inspections, been stopped over the years and it has always been ok