 | Home > Off Topic > weight limit on a recovery truck |
 
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| Bluest Member Since: 23 Apr 2016 Location: Lancashire Posts: 4209   
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I work closely with the police unit that posted those pics. Van overloading in general is a massive problem, but recovery vehicles are a particular issue that the police are focussing on. The recovery operator wants a truck under 3.5t gross so as to avoid operator licensing and tachographs etc, but with the increasing size of modern cars it is practically impossible to operate legally for moving anything but very small cars. Some of them know full well they are breaking the law and will try to hide the vehicle weight by running airbags or extra leaves in the rear axle. Another trick is to say downplate your 5t truck to 3.5t so as not to need a tachograph etc, but 5hr continue to run at 3.5t plus weight it was originally built for.
Additionally, you’ve got unscrupulous hire firms that will rent these trucks to unsuspecting DIYers who then get caught out moving there barn find Defender or whatever. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS |
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9th May 2021 12:14pm |
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| 90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2152 
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Lots of commercial stuff is overweight whether towing, carrying, recovery, etc........
Some people, seem to equate the size of a vehicle with the ability to load more.... I specifically chose my Transporter based on its towing ability (2.5T) and wheelbase due to my priorities at that point, lots of other things I considered were sub 2T tow limit which would have thrown me well in to the over-loaded camp for most things we do The much larger LT35 LWB we also utilised at the same time was only legal for 1.9T towing...... |
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9th May 2021 12:34pm |
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| 90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2152
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Just to add most general sized vans only have a load capacity of around 1 to 1.5T so easy to see that a similar chassis cab can't suddenly carry a 2T+ vehicle
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9th May 2021 12:36pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17378 
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Anyone who is a professional in the transport industry should immediately see that this is illegal, but you are right,, there are loads out there that are.
Yes, correct. The gross vehicle and (if towing) gross combined weights must not be exceeded.
I beg to differ, it is blindingly obvious that it is wrong, a car that size on a flatbed that size. Absolutely begging to be pulled by the Police, VOSA or both. Most professionals now will use a 7.5 tonne GVW rollback for recovery. It is worth remembering if you ever need your Defender recovered, however, not to let "John Wayne" pick it up on a 3.5 tonne flatbed. |
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9th May 2021 2:32pm |
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| Mdm Member Since: 11 Sep 2013 Location: Sunny Lancashire Posts: 1599
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its so common that even if the police vosa lads see them they know 100% they are overweight but they cant stop them all.
vosa dvsa tend to work daylight hours and a lot of these vans only operate local or know the weighbridge locations. none of the ones that i have dealt with could produce any insurance for the load they had which ruins it for the owner of the car when they roll it into a ball of scrap. but folk keep going for the cheapest price so it wont stop anytime soon. best one locally was a sprinter 3 up with a transit on the back 45mph on the mway and all over the place. weight wise the most the latest vans with light weight bodies etc can carry is 1600kg and the older vans its much less 1250-1500 is common on a sprinter or transit |
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9th May 2021 2:57pm |
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| Rashers Member Since: 21 Jun 2015 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3498 
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This is very interesting and not something I had ever thought about (on a need to know basis, I didn’t need to know
 )
As Blackwolf says, all the professional towing companies run 7.5T wagons these days, now I come to think about it. It would be very interesting to check a lot of the banger racers out there. I know their vehicles are stripped down, but then they have roll bars fitted and usually a shed load of tyres and wheels? This kind of truck is the mainstay of the Banger racer. Another non-Land Rover topic which has enlightened me 
 Another thing the Police need to look at are towing capacities. I live near the East Coast and I is not uncommon to see a substantial caravan being towed by a Ford Focus or Vauxhall Astra size tow vehicle. The cars are usually well overloaded as well and sit hard down on the rear axle. We have had a few accidents in Norfolk with this kind of outfit, but I don’t think the Police ever prosecute. Maybe the insurance companies have more of an interest - or should I say, lack of interest in paying up for a total loss? |
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9th May 2021 3:02pm |
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| Bluericky Member Since: 26 Jun 2014 Location: Cornwall Posts: 647 
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My 130 was delivered 250 miles on what looked like a totally inadequate transporter, given the size of what it was carrying !
The winds that day were approaching 55 mph . Thank goodness it made it .  Click image to enlarge https://www.instagram.com/hustynminepark/ |
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9th May 2021 3:19pm |
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| Mdm Member Since: 11 Sep 2013 Location: Sunny Lancashire Posts: 1599
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that's epic
not even a 3500kg van i think.do you have a picture of the vans reg number? dont worry no insurance it was stopped and they seize the truck and load. |
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9th May 2021 3:24pm |
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| Bluest Member Since: 23 Apr 2016 Location: Lancashire Posts: 4209
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We’ve been working very hard to rectify this. The NW regional unit now work outside normal office hours and we are looking for ways to make the check locations less predictable. 2007 110 TDCi Station Wagon XS |
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9th May 2021 6:01pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17378
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I don't think there can be any doubt that that rear axle is massively overloaded, and the GVW is also significantly exceeded. I wonder what would have happened if he'd had an accident, even if he did have insurance for the load I suspect he's invalidated it by overloading. Not a nice thought, really. |
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9th May 2021 8:02pm |
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| Mdm Member Since: 11 Sep 2013 Location: Sunny Lancashire Posts: 1599
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yep they could park outside any big auction house like bca....brighouse n leeds would be fun. i was there last week with work. lets just say 90% of the vans that were collecting were overloaded and more than half of the ones waiting to loaded weren't roadworthy.
bca dont help as they wont let you on site anymore and the car park is full so everyone has to load or park on the roads outside.....all double yellows. lots of vans lorries and 7.5 tonners. |
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9th May 2021 8:05pm |
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| Iggle piggle Member Since: 10 Sep 2014 Location: Wales Posts: 378 
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The industry has moved on again, Most professionals will now use a 10,12 or even 14tonne slidebed A 7.5t with a slidebed & crewcab will likely have a similar payload to these 3.5t cowboys & will almost certainly be over weight on its front axle |
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9th May 2021 8:25pm |
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| miker Member Since: 13 Sep 2015 Location: Surrey Posts: 1763 
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The issue (as I understand it) with 7.5t is it's only really a relevant class in the UK, so most 7.5t trucks are downplated 12t chassis!
Have to be really careful in my industry (broadcast and events) as it's very easy to wheel 4t of kit into a 7.5t truck with a box body on it... The last one I had to deal with, could only put 2200kg on it! |
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9th May 2021 11:43pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17378
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Apart from driver licencing, I don't think it's any harder to run a 12 tonner (or 20 tonner, or 44 tonner for that matter) than a 7.5 tonner is it? They still need O Licencing, tachos (drivers' hours regs compliance), etc.
In many ways the 7.5 tonner has become something of an anachronism, I think. |
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10th May 2021 7:12am |
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