Truck Learner Driver

johnnyw20

Hi
Last week I got insured on my parents 7.5 Ton horse lorry. The lorry was only brought last week aswell and my parents have never had a lorry before. I recently obtained my learners permit and have booked my test for next month.

My questions are...

Do I need L plates? I am always accompanied by my father who has a full C1 licence so I am OK for that

Do I need to use the tachograph? We transport horses without financial gain

Any help is appreciated and any questions will be answered.
Thanks

the little trucker

Hi Johnnyw20. You need to be careful when it comes to driving hgv's. The RSA are really getting their stuff together and are cracking down on the transport and passenger sectors.

Do I need to use a "L" plate?

Yes. It has to be visible at all times. Moving horses around, the vehicle i am guessing will get dirty quickly. keep the plate clean.

Also, you are not allowed on the motorway as a learner permit driver.

I am always accompanied by my father who has a full C1 licence so I am OK for that...

You are all right as long as your accompanying driver has held their full licence in this category for at least two years. So if your dad has his C1 licence for less than 2 years then he can not be your accompanying driver.

Do I need a tachograph? in short, NO.

Under Regulation EC 561/2006, Article 3, (h) vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7,5 tonnes used for the non-commercial carriage of goods;

If you tow a trailer on the C1 truck you have to be careful of the G.T.W. (gross train weight). eg. your 7.5 ton is fully loaded and you tow a trailer which weighs 2 ton gross... your GTW is now 9.5 ton. ( i hope that does not read as being condescending)

This regulation covers driver hours and tachograph http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32006R0561:EN:HTML:NOT

As long as you transport the horses for personal use and NOT for hire or reward then you are exempt.

However, you still fall under the road traffic act 1961 which has a set of rules regarding how long one can drive in a 24 hour period. ( this applies to your car also).

My advise is to always keep a log book of your driving activities, driving time, other work and breaks/rest periods.

If the vehicle is fitted with a digital tachograph vehicle unit (VU), then you should get your own digital tachograph card. You can insert it into the VU
and set the activity to "out of scope". This means you are recording the everything you do and should you ever be involved in an accident you have proof of your activities.

If it is an analogue tachograph then i would use the charts as per normal.

Best of luck with your test

johnnyw20

Thanks for the advice. I have found out for certain that a tachograph is not needed and I have everything sorted to drive legally

Del2005

johnnyw20 wrote: »

Hi
Last week I got insured on my parents 7.5 Ton horse lorry. The lorry was only brought last week aswell and my parents have never had a lorry before. I recently obtained my learners permit and have booked my test for next month.

My questions are...

Do I need L plates? I am always accompanied by my father who has a full C1 licence so I am OK for that

Do I need to use the tachograph? We transport horses without financial gain

Any help is appreciated and any questions will be answered.
Thanks

Did you apply for a C or C1 permit?

Not sure if it's legal for a C1 full licence to accompany a C permit, even if the vehicle is C1, as it's not the same class of licence.