transit van is too narrow

[ghance]

hi,

 

for the smaller gigs we use transit vans.. 350's, LWB hi-top FWD. okay, so they not merc sprinters, but all things considered I think they're pretty good. reliable, drive well. cheap to run.

 

problem is they're just too narrow in the back... max internal width is about 1750mm at the bottom tapering down to about 1500mm 1/2 way up the sides.

 

this means you can only get two 1/4 pack flight cases across the back. i.e. a 1/4 pack case being a shade under 600mm, so the transit is 50mm shy of getting 3 across the back. we work-around this by turning the cases thru 90 degs, wheels to walls, to get a better pack but its still not great and a bit of a pain to load.

 

is this the same for all 3.5T vans?

 

suggestions please.

 

ta

 

.spike

[landy]

So you are looking for a box back as in a Luton but no doubt more £££ and taller. Or a bigger LDV with the single wheels at the back, I'm told they are the biggest van you can get before Taco.

[itinerant baker]

Luton may well need a taco aswell - the one I sometimes drive has one in.

 

 

 

 

 

LDV will be sloooooooooooooowwww. ;)

[Pete McCrea]

Tachos- required on vehicles over 3.5t MAM I believe (MAM being Maximum Authorised Mass).

 

IIRC the Sprinter will get three Mac cases across the back. Or else it's damn close if they don't. The Sprinter certainly deosn't curve in anywhere near as badly as the Transit. Put a Plasma in a transit, and you loose nearly 6 inches at between the case a van side. Put it in the sprinter and it's nearer 2 inches. That can very quickly add up to precious wasted space.

[Neil Hampson]

Verging on the 'off topic' here. From the department of Transports Web site, a Tacho is required to be fitted AND used if the vehicle is above 3500KG MAM, and is used commercially, excptions include the following, some of which seem a little odd and others that could easily be exploited by the entertainment industry:

 

 

Vehicles used for the carriage of goods where the maximum permissible

weight of the vehicle, including any trailer or semi-trailer, does not exceed 3.5

tonnes.

• Vehicles with a maximum authorised speed not exceeding 30 kilometres per hour.
  
• Vehicles used by or under the control of the armed services, civil defence, fire services, and forces responsible for maintaining public order.
  
• Vehicles used in connection with the sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and electricity services, highway maintenance and control, refuse collection and disposal, telegraph and telephone services, carriage of postal articles, radio and television broadcasting and the detection of radio or television transmitters or receivers.
  
• Vehicles used in emergencies or rescue operations.
  
• Specialised vehicles used for medical purposes.
  
• Vehicles transporting circus and fun-fair equipment.
  
• Specialised breakdown vehicles.
  
• Vehicles undergoing road tests for technical development, repair or maintenance purposes, and new or rebuilt vehicles which have not yet been put into service. (This would not apply to vehicles, normally falling in scope of the EC rules, on journeys to Testing Stations for the purposes of an annual test).
  
• Vehicles used for non-commercial carriage of goods for personal use.
  
• Vehicles used for milk collection from farms and the return to farms of milk containers or milk products intended for animal feed.
  

Drivers are also exempt from the EC drivers’ hours and tachograph rules when

engaged in the following transport operations in the UK. For the drivers’ hours and

record-keeping requirements for these operations turn to Part C.

• Vehicles used by agricultural, horticultural, forestry or fishery undertakings for carrying goods within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is normally based, including local administrative areas, the centres of which are situated within that radius. (In the case of fishery undertakings the exemption applies only to the movement of fish from landing to first processing on land and of live fish between fish farms.)
  

Drivers’ Hours and Tachograph Rules for Goods Vehicles in the UK and Europe

• Vehicles used for carrying animal waste or carcasses which are not intended for human consumption.
  
• Vehicles used for carrying live animals from farms to local markets and vice versa or from markets to local slaughterhouses.
  
• Vehicles used as shops at local markets or for door-to-door selling or used for mobile banking, exchange or saving transactions, for worship, for the lending of books, records or cassettes, for cultural events or exhibitions, and specially fitted for such uses.
  
• Vehicles with a maximum permissible weight of not more than 7.5 tonnes carrying material or equipment for the driver’s use in the course of his work within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is normally based, provided that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main ctivity.
  
• Vehicles operating exclusively on islands not exceeding 2,300 square kilometres in area, which are not linked to the rest of Great Britain by a bridge, ford or tunnel open for use by motor vehicles.
  
• Vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (including batteries) of not more than 7.5 tonnes used for the carriage of goods and solely propelled by means of gas or electricity (this does not include petrol or diesel start-up engines or any other type of dual-fuelled engine).
  
• Vehicles used for driving instruction with a view to obtaining a driving licence, but excluding instruction on a journey connected with carrying a commercial load.
  

The following docuement explians all of the applicable regulations to driving, including when rest breaks must be taken etc.

 

DfT Tachograph regs

[Simon Lewis]

What's your payload?

 

A Luton will give the best loadspace, but poorer payload.

 

Most Van & Truck mags/websites have specific details, and are much better than the manufacturer's websites that show you pretty pictures and ask you to leave your details for a brochure to be posted....

 

others that could easily be exploited by the entertainment industry

 

Are you sure?

 

I read through this years ago, and the closest I could find was the circus / funfair exemption, but you have to be a member of the Guild of Showmen...

 

The others are similarly well sewn up. In fact one driver was fined (tacho violation) for carrying his works toolkit in an otherwise empty van. He claimed it was private use, but the court decided that the presence of the toolkit meant he was "at work".

 

 

Simon

[ghance]

payload = as much as possible. transits we get 1450Kg, and regularly rent a renault that takes 1550kg. lutons a bit of a pain.. slower, needs tail-lift, down to about 1150Kg pay-load. liking sound of the sprinter. I always thought they were about the same width as a transit albeit a bit squarer. will have look at the specs.

[Simon Lewis]

payload = as much as possible. transits we get 1450Kg, and regularly rent a renault that takes 1550kg. lutons a bit of a pain.. slower, needs tail-lift, down to about 1150Kg pay-load. liking sound of the sprinter. I always thought they were about the same width as a transit albeit a bit squarer. will have look at the specs.

 

I have a Renault, and the low load height coupled with its large capacity is a winner for me. The Sprinter is faster but seems to have less discount when bought new

[Ben Lawrance]

Just to chuck in my 2p worth.

 

I regually use a VW LT35 109 LWB and I can tell you, it's huge.

 

Doesn't go too bad either when loaded which is a bonus.

 

Certainly worth a look.

[i_hate_fisicks]

I think that the Renault Master has the widest loadspace out of all the 3.5T vans. I haven't looked this up recently, but it was true a few years ago.

[MarkPAman]

This site might help

 

Seems that the Iveco may now be the widest.

[Tomo]

This bit:

Vehicles with a maximum permissible weight of not more than 7.5 tonnes carrying material or equipment for the driver's use in the course of his work within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is normally based, provided that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver's main activity.

Appears to exempt some of us - if we're only going about 30 miles.

[djw1981]

I think this enables hire companies doing lots of drop offs with different drivers in one day (where the truck is driven by hire staff / technicians not a driver) without having 4,6 or 8 tacho sheets being changed all the time.

[Neil Hampson]

Firstly I want to apologise for the exploitation statement it was a bit stupid.

 

Are you sure?

 

I read through this years ago, and the closest I could find was the circus / funfair exemption, but you have to be a member of the Guild of Showmen...

 

Simon

 

 

I was thinking of this one:

 

Vehicles with a maximum permissible weight of not more than 7.5 tonnes

carrying material or equipment for the driver’s use in the course of his work

within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is normally based,

provided that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main activity.

 

I am not saying that I have ever done this as I have never been paid to drive stuff around, although I regularlly drive a 7.5T for local Drama socities, but as it's not for hire or reward I need neither the Tacho or an 'O' License (At least that was the advise from Salford Van Hire)

 

Edit

Just looked up at the other posts and it appears that this quote hs been bouncing around all night and I'm just copying. Sorry.

[Simon Lewis]

Firstly I want to apologise for the exploitation statement it was a bit stupid.

 

No probs!

 

There are some possible relaxations concerning use of Tachographs, but you have to consider that an Operators Licence is usually needed as well, and this brings in another layer of complexity.

 

I once had a long discussion with the licencing people as to what constituted a trailer in their definition, and eventually they accepted that for a certain vehicle weight/trailer combination I could get away without an O licence but would have to have a tacho installed...

 

As far as I understand the regs, any vehicle (including trailer) with an all up weight of more than 3.5t and used for commercial purposes (including hire vehicles) must have an Operators Licence and use a Tachograph. There may be some limited exemptions, but by and large these are pretty specific, and may be hard to argue against the traffic cop who stops you late at night.

 

Simon