White van man restricted

[bigstraight6]

Has anyone else heard of the latest in a never ending series of Governmental legislations that all LGV's over 3.5t GTW must be governed to a max of 56mph? no more roofing contractors Transit pickup's or parcel couriers Sprinters flashing past in the outside lane, which perhaps isn't too bad a thing....

[mk2_craig]

That would be great but I think Transits are 3500kg max anyways so you'll still see them flashing past you at 200mph. Think they do a 6 tonne Sprinter though??

[marinast]

They'll have to clog up the two inside lanes like HGV's do, perhaps causing more congestion on the Motorway network.

[Guest]

At least it will give the late plumbers/builders a new excuse as to why they are late

[Mr Lobster]

Sadly Transits and the like are excempt as they are under 3.5t. Everything over this weight is restricted to 56mph as are minibuses built after 2003.We have a couple of 7.5t trucks ast work which are now restricted to 56 and it actually makes them a relatively relaxing drive.... sit in lane one at 56 with your foot on the floor and you end up sat somewhere behind another truck doing exactly the same speed.The problem comes when you get a car doing 50 - 56 on the motorway as it takes forever to pass it.

[Mr Lobster]

Think they do a 6 tonne Sprinter though??

Biggest Sprinter is 3.5t as are virtually all panel vans with the exception of a couple of Ivecos which I think are 4t.Reason being that a 3.5t van (ie LWB Sprinter or Transit Luton) is the biggest thing you can drive on a car licence if you passed your test since 01/01/97 and for a company operating anything over 3.5t they need an operators licence to be able to leaglly use it for business.

[MrRegieRitmo]

sit in lane one at 56 with your foot on the floor and you end up sat somewhere behind another truck doing exactly the same speed.

Is that why you always get clusters of lorries huddling together like herds of wildebeest on the motorways?

[MrRegieRitmo]

Reason being that a 3.5t van (ie LWB Sprinter or Transit Luton) is the biggest thing you can drive on a car licence if you passed your test since 01/01/97

What could you drive before that?

[seth]

I guess first class post is going to start taking even longer then it does now then. Always seems to be the Royal Mail lorries with the demon drivers in at night.I'd quite like it if they restricted anything with a 56 max to the left two lanes rather than just having the "fast" lane out of bounds. That would make things flow so much better in those congested places where the motorway has been widened to four or more lanes but everyone is still stuck behind a gaggle of HGV's

[Ross_K]

Think they do a 6 tonne Sprinter though??

Biggest Sprinter is 3.5t as are virtually all panel vans with the exception of a couple of Ivecos which I think are 4t.

VW Crafter and Merc Sprinter go up to 5t. The Transit goes up to something like 4.5t. Iveco Daily goes up to 6.5t.

[mk2_craig]

a 3.5t van (ie LWB Sprinter or Transit Luton) is the biggest thing you can drive on a car licence if you passed your test since 01/01/97

What could you drive before that?

I passed my test 1995 and as such have the C1 category (Medium Goods) allowing me to drive up to a 7½-tonner. Meaning that I can legally get my grubby mitts on certain models of Leyland Terrier and Bedford TK

[Mr Lobster]

Is that why you always get clusters of lorries huddling together like herds of wildebeest on the motorways?

Essentially yes. If you sit on the limiter you follow other trucks pretty much consistantly otherwise you end up backing off the limiter, dropping down to 50 and then speeding up again.

[Mr Lobster]

What could you drive before that?

Anything upto and including 7.5t trucks. If you passed after that date you aren't allowed to driver Minibuses or tow trailers where the whole combo is over 3.5t either.

[Mr Lobster]

Think they do a 6 tonne Sprinter though??

Biggest Sprinter is 3.5t as are virtually all panel vans with the exception of a couple of Ivecos which I think are 4t.

VW Crafter and Merc Sprinter go up to 5t. The Transit goes up to something like 4.5t. Iveco Daily goes up to 6.5t.

I stand corrected! Sprinter and Crafter (which are essentially same are over 3.5t. Biggest Transit is 3.5t though - Transit LWB Jumbo - weighs 2.2t itself which gives it a fairly measily payload of 1.3t before it goes overweight. Even LWB Transit Lutons can't take much more than 1.5t !

[MrRegieRitmo]

a 3.5t van (ie LWB Sprinter or Transit Luton) is the biggest thing you can drive on a car licence if you passed your test since 01/01/97

What could you drive before that?

I passed my test 1995 and as such have the C1 category (Medium Goods) allowing me to drive up to a 7½-tonner. Meaning that I can legally get my grubby mitts on certain models of Leyland Terrier and Bedford TK

That's not fair! What are they saying, that drivers are becoming less & less capable? Don't tell me, you have to take extra tests for every type of larger vehicle? What an arse! Another money spinner for the government??

[MrRegieRitmo]

Is that why you always get clusters of lorries huddling together like herds of wildebeest on the motorways?

Essentially yes. If you sit on the limiter you follow other trucks pretty much consistantly otherwise you end up backing off the limiter, dropping down to 50 and then speeding up again.

So in other words the only lorries you should come across overtaking will be the 56mph ones overtaking the ones doing even less?

[mk2_craig]

I passed my test 1995 and as such have the C1 category (Medium Goods) allowing me to drive up to a 7½-tonner. Meaning that I can legally get my grubby mitts on certain models of Leyland Terrier and Bedford TK

That's not fair! What are they saying, that drivers are becoming less & less capable? Don't tell me, you have to take extra tests for every type of larger vehicle? What an arse! Another money spinner for the government??

Undoubtedly, but I guess it's only fair enough that, in these days of ever-increasing congestion on the roads, a new driver who's only passed a car test is prevented from going straight out in a lorry. I have however passed a full D category (big bus) test so would feel more than confident in a Cargo or Roadrunner.

[Volksy]

I have the same entitlements, Have had two goes at my Cat D (bus) licence a couple of years back to enable me to drive one of these:-

 

This was for a job driving a group from London to Beijing, or from Alaska to the southern most tip of South America..

 

I failed my test both times on minors, such as not watching the door close!

 

And at £1500 a pop, (lessons and test) i decided that i would have another bash in a few years!

[Richard]

Transits and the like are only allowed to do 60 on dual carriageways, a rule that is being enforced more and more often.

[wuvvum]

Are all vehicles over 3.5t now restricted to 56, or is it just vehicles built after a certain date? I know someone with a 1994 beavertail Mercedes 817 who drives everywhere at 80 and will be extremely miffed if he has to reduce his cruising speed by 24mph.

[Mr Lobster]

Are all vehicles over 3.5t now restricted to 56, or is it just vehicles built after a certain date? I know someone with a 1994 beavertail Mercedes 817 who drives everywhere at 80 and will be extremely miffed if he has to reduce his cruising speed by 24mph.

Only those built after (I think) 2002 have to have limiters at the moment.

[Ross_K]

Are all vehicles over 3.5t now restricted to 56, or is it just vehicles built after a certain date? I know someone with a 1994 beavertail Mercedes 817 who drives everywhere at 80 and will be extremely miffed if he has to reduce his cruising speed by 24mph.

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/newsand ... lation.htm

From 1 January 2007 additional vehicles will now fall into scope under the speed limiter legislation introduced in January 2005. The changes affect all goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight and all passenger vehicles with 8 or more passenger seats, irrespective of weight. The relevant date for fitting speed limiters varies depending on the gross design weight of the vehicle, engine type (such as Euro III), international or national usage and the date of first registration.Specifically affected from January 2007 are goods vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes and passenger vehicles with more than 8 seats, irrespective of weight, which were first registered between 1 October 2001 and 31 December 2004, have Euro III engines approved to Directive 88/77/EEC and are used on national operations in this country.In addition, goods vehicles first registered between 1 October 2001 and 31 December 2004 with a maximum gross weight between 7.5 tonnes and 12 tonnes, will have to have their existing speed limitation devices recalibrated from 60mph to 56mph.