Moffett reg plate

[donkmeister]

I saw a Moffett unloading a lorry full of building materials at a house earlier. Nothing unusual about that, they're a brilliant invention.

I noticed that the numberplate on the Moffett matched that of the lorry. Again, nothing strange about that as once it's mounted on the lorry that is the rearmost part of the outfit. However, despite being used on the road (albeit only for brief unloading jobs) it didn't have its own numberplate.

Is that usual? Does a Moffett not need its own numberplate? Does it count as part of the lorry? Or was this simply wrong?

It's just a point of interest, I'm intrigued if the Moffett is counted as part of the lorry once detached.

[journeymanpro]

You need a hobby.

[aterribleusername]

Having just done my Moffett training I can say that yes, it should have its own numberplate if it is used on the public highway. It doesn't however have to be visible from the rear, they are usually mounted on the front so as not to be confused with the truck's plate.

[Tisy]

journeymanpro said:

You need a hobby.

This ^

But the answer is that the Moffett FLTs should only be used in private yards to load/unload, not out on the road. It's no different to a truck pulling up on the road outside a company and their own FLT & driver driving outside to lift the pallets on/off. Nobody except those curtain-twitcher types with far too much time on their hands gives a singular fk in either scenario.

[Sebring440]

For context:

donkmeister said:

I saw a Moffett unloading a lorry full of building materials at a house earlier. Nothing unusual about that, they're a brilliant invention.

I noticed that the numberplate on the Moffett matched that of the lorry. Again, nothing strange about that as once it's mounted on the lorry that is the rearmost part of the outfit. However, despite being used on the road (albeit only for brief unloading jobs) it didn't have its own numberplate.

Is that usual? Does a Moffett not need its own numberplate? Does it count as part of the lorry? Or was this simply wrong?

It's just a point of interest, I'm intrigued if the Moffett is counted as part of the lorry once detached.

[W124Bob]

There's a timber/builders merchant near me that regularly have deliveries off loaded on the road with these machines, about 100yds from a busy traffic light controlled junction too. There own small forklift also off loads smaller loads using the road, no number plate on that.

[paul_c123]

Given its on the back of a truck, I am 99% sure the registration plate mounting is a "quick fit" type, eg if it were on the back of an artic trailer the driver could fit the tractor's plate in about 10 secs by pushing it into some spring clips. Given that, I bet on the "official" procedures there is an instruction line to remove the truck's plate and attach the Moffett's own plate. They are road legal on their own, whether the end user registers them, taxes/insures etc isn't up to Moffett but the end user and the supplying dealer.

[donkmeister]

aterribleusername said:

Having just done my Moffett training I can say that yes, it should have its own numberplate if it is used on the public highway. It doesn't however have to be visible from the rear, they are usually mounted on the front so as not to be confused with the truck's plate.

Good answer, thank you.

[donkmeister]

Sebring440 said:

For context:

donkmeister said:

I saw a Moffett unloading a lorry full of building materials at a house earlier. Nothing unusual about that, they're a brilliant invention.

I noticed that the numberplate on the Moffett matched that of the lorry. Again, nothing strange about that as once it's mounted on the lorry that is the rearmost part of the outfit. However, despite being used on the road (albeit only for brief unloading jobs) it didn't have its own numberplate.

Is that usual? Does a Moffett not need its own numberplate? Does it count as part of the lorry? Or was this simply wrong?

It's just a point of interest, I'm intrigued if the Moffett is counted as part of the lorry once detached.

For context? That's just my OP.

[donkmeister]

paul_c123 said:

Given its on the back of a truck, I am 99% sure the registration plate mounting is a "quick fit" type, eg if it were on the back of an artic trailer the driver could fit the tractor's plate in about 10 secs by pushing it into some spring clips. Given that, I bet on the "official" procedures there is an instruction line to remove the truck's plate and attach the Moffett's own plate. They are road legal on their own, whether the end user registers them, taxes/insures etc isn't up to Moffett but the end user and the supplying dealer.

That makes sense too, thanks.

[GasEngineer]

donkmeister said:

For context? That's just my OP.

Sebring was quoting in case you deleted your OP.

Some posters do this when their post gets smart arse replies like "You need a hobby" and "Nobody except those curtain-twitcher types with far too much time on their hands gives a singular fk", rather than anything helpful to the original question.

[Riley Blue]

GasEngineer said:

donkmeister said:

For context? That's just my OP.

Sebring was quoting in case you deleted your OP.

Some posters do this when their post gets smart arse replies like "You need a hobby" and "Nobody except those curtain-twitcher types with far too much time on their hands gives a singular fk", rather than anything helpful to the original question.

Fail on part of Sebring; there were two sensible replies before he posted.

[KungFuPanda]

Riley Blue said:

GasEngineer said:

donkmeister said:

For context? That's just my OP.

Sebring was quoting in case you deleted your OP.

Some posters do this when their post gets smart arse replies like "You need a hobby" and "Nobody except those curtain-twitcher types with far too much time on their hands gives a singular fk", rather than anything helpful to the original question.

Fail on part of Sebring; there were two sensible replies before he posted.

The second part of Sebring’s failure is that he’s misused the term “context”.

[donkmeister]

Ah, so he thought I might do a flounce. Yes Sebring, I'm a delicate flower, me I realise it's not the most exciting question... I was stopped waiting for the driver to unload a pallet, when he turned the back of the fork truck and the lorry lined up. Hence me seeing the identical number plates and wondering if they were counted as one vehicle.

Key takeaway from this thread is that I was called a curtain twitcher by someone who posted for advice on long range night vision binoculars for the ultimate in curtain twitching.

[Decky_Q]

I maintained a fleet of HGV trailers with mounties.

We had the quick change square plate on the rear to suit the truck that was pulling it that day, and another plate on the front riveted on which had our internal identifier for which mounty it was.
None were registered for the road, they were part of the trailer in our opinion.

[Biker 1]

How does this work from an insurance POV?
What happens if the driver crashes the moffet into the lorry by mistake? Or runs over a pedestrian whilst unloading on a public road? Does the operator require an HGV license as well as a forklift ticket? Does the lorry MOT cover the moffet?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

I was a transport manager for a haulage contractor for a few years.

As said, most Moffetts will have their own registration number and also often carry the plate of the vehicle transporting them.

If your Moffett only unloads on industrial parks etc and NEVER is driven on a road you might get away with not registering it. This is, however, a high risk strategy.

To be belt and braces each Moffett should be registered taxed and insured.

Other truck mounted fork lifts are available

[biggiles]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

To be belt and braces each Moffett should be registered taxed and insured.

As I happen to have a V112 on my desk for a tricky vehicle, I'm going to guess a road taxed Moffet can be exempted from an MOT (usually a requirement for road tax) e.g. under option "o - vehicle with maximum design speed of less than 15.5 mph"?

Not to suggest there won't be any inspections (I'm sure there are many LOLER-type inspections) but MOT seems unnecessary.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

biggiles said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

To be belt and braces each Moffett should be registered taxed and insured.

As I happen to have a V112 on my desk for a tricky vehicle, I'm going to guess a road taxed Moffet can be exempted from an MOT (usually a requirement for road tax) e.g. under option "o - vehicle with maximum design speed of less than 15.5 mph"?

Not to suggest there won't be any inspections (I'm sure there are many LOLER-type inspections) but MOT seems unnecessary.

Good point. We obviously did LOLER and drivers had IPAF, but I don’t remember MOT. Tricky on the brake rollers I guess!

It was a good many years ago so some of the finer details have escaped me.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Not IPAF, I can’t remember the training