Alpaca World Magazine Spring 2005 - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

deal to a trailer – but what there is has to be
checked and has to be right.”
Just like a car, a trailer has to be serviced
regualarly to remain roadworthy, and although
a second-hand model may look good on the
forecourt with a new fl oor and sound bodywork,
underneath it may have a damaged axle - which
will affect the suspension and could injure any
animal travelling in it.
When buying a second-hand trailer, it is
certainly worth putting your animals’ safety fi rst
and buying from a reputable dealership, and
preferably one which says it puts all trailers
through a multi-point check before offering them
for sale or auction.
That just leaves one last thing to check out
– which is basically the driver of the vehicle. Did
you know that drivers who passed a car test on
or after 1 January 1997 are required to pass an
additional driving test in order to gain entitlement
to category B+E and all larger vehicles. In addition
to the new driving tests, it is worth pointing out
for the sake of completeness, the drivers of
vehicles which fall within subcategories C1, C1+E,
D1 and D1+E also have to meet higher medical
standards.
For an immediate guide to what the letters
mean, look at the pictures on the reverse of your
plastic, credit-carded sized driving licence. If you
don’t have the car plus trailer graphic, you’re going
to have to take another test.
All drivers who passed a car test before 1
January 1997 retain their existing entitlement to
tow trailers until their licence expires. This means
they are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and
trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM
(Maximum Authorised Mass); and they can also
drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kgs MAM.
Although this can be seen as a nuisance, by
and large you are protecting yourself and your
animals by learning about the practicalities of
how to reverse properly and without, for one thing,
depreciating the value of your investment by
causing unnecessary damage.
A number of agricultural training centres now
offer this test; for example if you are based in the
North West you could take a course run by the
Northern Rural Partnership at Clitheroe Auction Mart.
As with all areas of farming these days, nothing
is ever as straight-forward as it used to be, but by
getting things right you know you are staying on the
right side of the law and getting a good deal at the
same time.
More information
South West Trailers Ltd
www.southwesttrailerslimited.co.uk
Directgov – Towing a Caravan or Trailer
www.direct.gov.uk/Topics/Motoring/
TowingACaravanOrTrailer
Alpaca World Magazine Spring 2005 | 29