Trailer towing:- B and B+E licence rules explained

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CPC said:

Sorry for the delay. from the chassis plate on the door post the GVM is 2070kg. So is this technically fully legal? even tho the trailer or car will never have max weight?

Thanks

Gtom said:

It's simple maths, 2070+1400=3470.

You are 30kg under so totally legal.

I agree - 100% legal on a B licence even if the car and trailer are loaded to their max limits

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Glasgowrob said:

utterly baffled trying to work out what I can and cant tow with a B licence,


just out of curiosity I've been looking at car/caravan combos


now say my caravan has a laden weight (or is it plated weight?) of 1600kg,

I cant tow it with my vivaro which has a towing weight of 2000kg as its over 3500 MAM

but I can tow it with my Mondeo which has a towing weight of 1800kg under the 3500 MAM.

am I doing this right? vehicle kerbweight doesn't come into it just the plated towing weight and the weight of the trailer/caravan?

Forget towing weight - what you need is the GVW of the vehicle and the MTPLM of the caravan for licencing

MAM / GVW / MTPLM are the same thing - the max each can legally weigh when fully loaded

If the caravan MTPLM is 1600 then the max GVW for the vehicle is 1900 for B licence towing as the max total cannot be more than 3500

NOW we see if the towing capacity can accommodate the ACTUAL weight of what is being towed

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Leptons said:

Hi, I think I’ve read so much into this subject now I’ve fried my own brain!

I’ve done B+E and now looking to buy a trailer. It’s mainly to tow the car to track days, tow vehicle will be my works Vivaro. The Max Train weight of this is 4790kg.
The Max Gross weight of the Vivaro is 2790kg

Because I’ve got B+E am I correct in thinking I could tow any trailer plated up to 3500kg as long as I don’t exceed The Maximum Gross Train weight of the Vivaro? I.e it goes off the actual weight of the trailer and load rather than the Plated weight of the trailer?

TIA

Max actual weight for the trailer and its load is LIKELY to be 2000 but the log book may say higher

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Too Late said:

Quick question.

I would like to collect a car and tow it home on a trailer
I do not have a B+E on my licence.

My dad on the other hand has a B+E on his licence.

If I wanted to drive up there. Tow the car back on the trailer. Can I take my dad with me and put l plates on for it to be legal?

Got a 110 defender and looking to rent a large trailer for the day motorway and a roads mainly)

Thanks
Nick

Yes you can do that and DAD does not have to be insured unless he actually drives it

Make sure you inform your insurer that you are doing that = usually no extra cost

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jeremyc said:

ut does he need 'L' plates when driving accompanied by Dad? I can only assume not.

If he does, then presumably they can't take the motorway route back with the 'L' plates on.

Yes he does need L plates when accompanied by DAD and can legally use the motorway using L plates

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S100HP said:

what a minefield this is! I passed in 2000, have a 2007 XC70 D5.

Towing capacity according to this site is 1800kg, meaning I can tow a caravan up to 1700kg?

You need the TWO important figures -
GVW of vehicle
MAM of trailer

Need those two numbers to see if you can tow on a B licence (no B+E)

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Jimmy Recard said:

I have B+E so I don't usually need to know this.

Am I right that for him as a B licence holder his limit is 3500-GVW of Volvo XC90?
(Assuming that this number is smaller than the towing capacity of the Volvo)

Lets say GVW of Volvo is 2500kg then the most the trailer/caravan etc can be plated at is 1000kg MAM / MTPLM / GVW

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Merry said:

Thanks for all this info, really useful

Suspect I know the answer but I have just picked up a Outlander PHEV with a towbar and as such would like a trailer to tow my daft track cars about (a Reliant Ss1 and Mx5)

Now I know the Outlander has a towing capacity of 1500kg and a GVW of 2340kg.

By my reckoning (passed test post '97 no b+e) this means I can tow a braked trailer with a MAM of 1160kg. I'm guessing, therefore that no trailer exists that has that sort of MAM that can carry the vehicles I'm planning on carrying.

Am I right in thinking that and that I'll have to do a b+e?

How heavy will the trailer load be?

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Merry said:

940kg for the Mazda, 839kg for the Scimitar

Deffo B+E needed or supervising driver who has it

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Merry said:

Thought as much. Looks like I'll be forking out or taking my dad to every track day!

Anyone know somewhere decent to do the training/test around Manchester?

Best ones are usually LGV training schools who also do B+E

Never go through a broker always visit the trainer before paying any money

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in Jan 2013 that rule was revoked where it stated trailer MAM cannot exceed vehicle kerb weight

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1380 is the max plated MAM / MTPLM for a trailer / caravan where the vehicle GVW is 2120 for B towing

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As already correctly stated a B licence can tow a trailer no more than 750kg plated MAM weight behind any vehicle where the GVW is not over 3500kg

The 3500 total plated weights comes into play when the trailer goes over 750kgs plated MAM weight for B towing

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s2t said:

My question relates to the plated trailer values.
My car transporter has a Gross weight value of 2600kgs with a load value of 2050kgs. My race car is 500kgs so the trailer is overkill for the job. My current tovehicle is a Mitsubishi Barbarian with a tow capacity of 3500kgs, so not a problem. I am however thinking of getting a race van with a stated tow capacity of 2000kgs. The racecar and trailer combined I suspect will be 1200-1400kgs so pragmatically not a problem. However I have heard people are being pulled up because of the plate value. If this is so then technically the plate shows 2600kgs against a vehicle towing capacity of 2000kgs notwithstanding the actual towed weight is 1200-1400kgs. Where do I stand?

There is no law or rule which states that the towing capacity of a vehicle must be able to accommodate the plated MAM of a trailer

There is a myth going around that you can get done because it has the POTENTIAL of exceeding the towing capacity so lets look at that ….

Why have you stopped me officer ?
You are doing 30 in a 30 limit but your car has the a potential to do 70 so I am charging you for that !!!!!!!!!

PS - you need B+E on licence to do what you want to do

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Too Late said:

Hi R0G

I'm back.

Off the back of my thread I am stuck

So I have a provisional B+E it seems. It confused me into thinking I was ok to tow with the 110. Especially since it's kerb weight is 2ton. I thought I will be well under the 3.5 limit. But it's not it's kerb weight on the license. It's the MAM, which is 3ton for a 110

So if I want to tow a 600kg kit car, how can I achieve that? This is bonkers. That means without a trailer, I am at 3.6ton, already over the limit.
I passed my test in 2005

You either need a vehicle with a lower GVW or you need to find a car trailer that weighs 150kg empty and is plated at or can be lower to 750 kg MAM

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V8RX7 said:

Reviving this...

For the first time I've bought a car - 2007 Vito Traveliner - with

"Technical permissible maximum towable mass of the trailer" printed on the V5, which is 2000kg

I have always used Gross Train Weight - Actual Van weight = Towable Mass inc trailer

Which is closer to 3000kg

Does the V5 over rule that ?

Edit - I've checked and my previous 07 Vito had no weights in the V5 nor does my 08

Edited by V8RX7 on Thursday 4th April 18:15

If the V5 states a max towing amount then that's it

Usually but not always the max actual tow weight is GTW minus GVW

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V8RX7 said:

I've discussed GTW - GVW with you before, I agree that is the ideal way to carry load, but when that load is a car you can't carry it in the van.

I've messages from VOSA confirming that the weight can be either carried OR towed as long as I don't exceed GTW - which makes sense really - or have the rules have changed in the last 5 years ?

The only issue can be moving off on a damp hill - I've had a problem when towing 1000kg more than the van weighed - in a FWD van. Not enough weight on the front so it would only wheel spin, I had to reverse to the bottom of the hill.

Ask DVSA about max tow limits and C&U reg 100 - see what they say about that !

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You forgot to ask them about C&U reg 100 and how insurers view towing over the manufacturers max listed tow capacity

GTW is only one aspect of the towing laws

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Not irrelevant if you have an incident and the insurer voids the cover because the driver has exceeded what the vehicle was designed to do safely and exceeding safety brings it into C&U reg 100

You do not have to take my word for this - simply as the various authorities such as trafpol, DVSA, DVLA & the insurance bureau

As with anything - it is the choice of the driver what they do as long as they are prepared to accept any consequences

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There is no law or rule which states that the plated weight of a trailer must be within the towing capacity of a vehicle

Anyone who says different needs to prove such by putting a link to such a law = never going to happen!