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7.5 Tonne, operators licence, drivers, tour.


MarkBarl

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Just wondering if anyone here can clarify/confirm the regulations regarding using a 7.5 tonne hired vehicle on a tour is? From what I have read, a restricted operators licence allows our company to transport our own goods in a hired (for a duration of less than 1 month) 7.5 tonne van. This can be driven (subject to appropiate licence and governed by tacho/driving hours etc) by people acting as "servant or agent" by the company. (whoever employs or controls the driver)

 

It appears to me that the regulations are all worded around the transportation/delivery of goods which is not exactly what we are looking at. If anyone has any first hand experience that could shed any light on the subject

 

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Just wondering if anyone here can clarify/confirm the regulations regarding using a 7.5 tonne hired vehicle on a tour is? From what I have read, a restricted operators licence allows our company to transport our own goods in a hired (for a duration of less than 1 month) 7.5 tonne van. This can be driven (subject to appropiate licence and governed by tacho/driving hours etc) by people acting as "servant or agent" by the company. (whoever employs or controls the driver)

 

It appears to me that the regulations are all worded around the transportation/delivery of goods which is not exactly what we are looking at. If anyone has any first hand experience that could shed any light on the subject

 

If you're carrying your own equipment, (ie a PA system), then a restricted O licence is fine. You can use a rented truck for more than an month - it's just that up to a month you don't have to list your vehicle on your O Licence. We have a restricted O Licence for 2 trucks and a trailer and we don't own our own trucks.

 

Obviously drivers will be subject to licence and tacho regs.

 

You'll have to prove financial standing to show that you have enough cash in the bank to meet the current financial levels on your application and it takes about 8 - 12 weeks for the licence process. And you have to advertise the fact that you're applying for an O licence in the local rag.

 

It's a bit of an effort applying for the licence, but well worth having...

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and just for clarification - "goods" is basically their way of saying "not funfair equipment or a caravan" - ie a vehicle that has been designed and built such that the driving part of its use is entirely secondary to its primary use as "something else" & VOSA simply use the test criteria of "could we put a pallet of goods on it?" as their definition of a goods vehicle- hence why you see exhibition and funfair vehicles using every inch of space to ensure it cannot fall in to the category of a goods use.

 

Also remember that YOU as the person commissioning the driver (even if you do it indirectly through an agency) are the one with the legal obligation to ensure the driver is complying 100% with the driving hours / work hours regulations; if the driver does 3 consecutive 11 hour drive days plus 4 hours "other work" on each of those days (thus using up all of the contingency time and working hours for a whole month) then gets audited by the police/vosa after 9 hours and 1 min working for you then you are the one who will be prosecuted because it's on your watch that the driver is over-hours and he is working under your instruction. All the reputable driver agencies will have systems in place to ensure this doesn't happen but I've seen lots of less formal situations where a friend of a friend or one of the performers steps up to do a bit of driving and is either over-working-hours or conversely hasn't got a proper record of the hours worked so is automatically deemed to be out of available hours.

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Gov.uk helpfully state you'll need to :

 

 

advertise your application for a licence

advertise your proposed operating centre(s)

(designate a transport manager if you’re applying for a standard licence)

provide information about your financial situation

draw up a maintenance contract with a garage or agent to do safety inspections and repair vehicles if you don’t do this yourself (or get proof that the hire co will do this)

You don't need a transport manager for a restricted licence but you do still need to know current regulations and legislation and carry out any required audits, training etc...

 

If the driver is carrying out other duties, beware of the situation that Tom highlights. If the driver is a 'professional driver' they'll need Driver CPC. The exemption is, "carrying material or equipment to be used by the driver in the course of his or her work, provided that driving the vehicle is not the driver's principal activity"

 

The restricted licence limits you to carrying your own goods but not other people's. Be careful how you describe hired in or third party equipment...

You'll probably need proof (via the hire company) that the truck is subject to a maintenance/service schedule and that the facilities/resources to do this are in place.

You'll still need to meet operating centre requirements... and the Police, Council, Joe Public etc. can make representations

 

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Getting the O Licence isn’t that hard, certainly for a restricted. We’ve held one for about 7 years now with little to no issue.

 

Find a friendly local truck hire company and open an account - access to vehicles sorted. Likewise find a nearby HGV Garage and ask at the service desk about getting setup. Our nearby DAF dealership have a template letter saying they’ll undertake servicing to the required levels, which went in the application. Local news appears are used to O Licence submissions, so again give them a call and they help out.

 

In terms of carrying your own goods - when I spoke with a DVSA rep on the new license holders training (which was scary for the lack of regard some of the operators there had, mainly those in construction), they said that carrying sub hired kit along with yours to your job wasn’t an issue.

 

As for drivers hours, drivers CPC etc - well that’s a whole can of worms!

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  • 1 year later...

I'm old enough to have a 7.5 tonne on my license just from passing my driving test (C1). What I do know is that I can only drive one for non-professional/commercial reasons as I now need to pass CPC training (a 35 hour course), howevere as an LD, I'm allowed to drive one for a delivering to a job as:

 

  • The driver is carrying equipment for their work, where their work does not mainly involve driving (e.g. glazer, scaffolder).

For the operator license, a small company can have a restricted license which means that you can only carry their own goods (I think this includes hired in stuff). This is renewed every 5 years and the easiest to get and involves another useless course.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm old enough to have a 7.5 tonne on my license just from passing my driving test (C1). What I do know is that I can only drive one for non-professional/commercial reasons as I now need to pass CPC training (a 35 hour course), howevere as an LD, I'm allowed to drive one for a delivering to a job as:

 

  • The driver is carrying equipment for their work, where their work does not mainly involve driving (e.g. glazer, scaffolder).

For the operator license, a small company can have a restricted license which means that you can only carry their own goods (I think this includes hired in stuff). This is renewed every 5 years and the easiest to get and involves another useless course.

 

I'm also old enough to have C1 the problem with relying on any of the exemptions to driver CPC is that the onus is on you to prove you qualify. Meanwhile the police could stop you impound the vehicle etc.

 

Even in amateur theatre you can't rely on the non commercial exemption as it's still being paid for ultimately by selling tickets to the public. The equipment for you use for you job exemption is similarly problematic as in many cases many people across the production use the kit not just the person driving.

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True, there are exceptions - but generally speaking, if you're driving anything over 3.5t MGVW you'll need to be on a tacho. If you get pulled by PC Plod or VOSA, wouldn't it be easier to just let them check the tacho and get on your way, rather than having to prove that you're only 49 miles from whatever you define as 'base'? Edited by gareth
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