Equestrian Life March 2018 Issue

HAVE YOU GOT THE
CORRECT LICENCE?
The good news is that the
driver of a vehicle with
a gross vehicle weight of
up to 3.5t requires only
a Category B licence
(ordinary private car
licence).
Vehicles between 3.5t
and 7.5t can be driven by
holders of C1 category
licences. Drivers covered
by this category are
permitted to tow trailers
of up to a maximum gross
weight of 0.75t. With the
exception of those drivers
with Category C1 entitlement, all drivers of
goods vehicles with a maximum gross weight
of more than 3.5t require a Category C licence.
Drivers who passed their tests for a Category
B licence AFTER 1st January 1997 stopped
receiving automatic entitlement to drive
Category C1 vehicles.
DO I NEED AN OPERATORS’ LICENCE?
In deciding whether or not you need an
Operators Licence; first make sure your
equestrian activity is confined to a hobby and
if you are classed as ‘Amateur’ status. It is
likely then that your expenditure will vastly
outweigh any potential winnings, which if you
did win could be considered incidental and
therefore, no Operators licence is required.
HOWEVER where the user and rider has
turned professional, where their success
has attracted corporate sponsorship or they
are receiving any other form of corporate
support, then this may be perceived as having
a commercial element and so an Operators
licence would be required.
WATCH YOUR SPEED
From 1st January 2008. All goods vehicles
with a gross weight in excess of 3500kgs are
required to have a speed limiter installed and
working.
Question and Answer
Equestrian Life put a series of questions to www.thetransportmanager.co.uk, a
free resource designed to keep drivers and owners fully up to speed on vehicle
law and legislation, including horsebox, trailer owners and drivers.
I’m 18 and have just passed
Q my test, do I need to take any
other tests?
If you have just passed your test
A this will give you a B category
licence which entitles the holder to
drive vehicles up to 3.5t. There is no
requirement for any other vehicles
tests, however hopping from a small
car to a large van/lorry type vehicle
carrying a load requires familiarisation
as the handling and braking
characteristics are vastly different
from that of a small car.
I’ve got to 16.2hh horses, both
Q weighing around 550-600kgs
depending on the time of the year;
with all my tack and accessories,
am I going to be overweight for a
3.5t?
You must know the total laden
A weight (Unloaded weight) of your
vehicle before going on the public
highway. You should weigh the vehicle
with a typical load which includes
driver, passenger, full tank of fuel and
any other tack you may carry. This
is the unladen weight of the vehicle.
Then add the weight of the horse and
this will then give you total weight
of the vehicle. Let’s say your vehicle
weighs in at 2800kg with driver,
passenger, fuel and tack it means
you can carry up to 700kg. 2800kg +
700kg = 3500kg. In most towns and
cities there are public weigh bridges
or local companies which may allow
you to weigh your vehicle for a small
cost. You can generally find one from
a search engine search. Remember if
your vehicle is overweight you could
be fined or if you have an accident
your insurance could be invalid.
N.B. Most 3.5t boxes are advertised
as 2 boxes, however with 2 fully
grown horses, most 2 boxes would go
overweight.
Do all garages offer the same
Q level of service and how can I
ensure I find the best ones to check
my lorry?
Not all garages offer the same
A level of service and a lot of
garages do not understand the
intricacies of Horse Boxes. Most
counties have specialists which will
cater for service and general repairs
for Horse Boxes.
A friend and I share my lorry
Q to events to keep the costs to a
minimum – do I need an Operators’
licence?
The million-dollar question!
A Simply if you are gaining an
income from the use of the horse
box and this more than your hobby,
yes you may require an Operator’s
Licence, however if it purely a hobby
no you won’t. Instead of your friend
paying you any money ask them to pay
for fuelling it up or any maintenance
and this will avoid any money
changing hands.
REFERENCES :
Excerpts taken from VOSA: A guide for
Horsebox and Trailer Owners
For more in-depth guidance on driver
licensing please refer to the gov.uk website
at www.gov.uk/adding-higher-categories-toyour-driving-licence
For more information on speed limiters go to
www.dft.gov.uk
For more information on Operator licencing
go to www.dft.gov.uk/vosa
www.equestrianlifemagazine.co.uk 15