Operators Licence / Hoops To Jump through

[Brad93]

Anyone here familiar with what it would take to legally run, insure, tax etc a 7.2 tonne Iveco Daily with a Fassi hiab crane.

Someone told me an operators licence is around £1600 a year!

Given the truck might only be used once or twice a month, this seems excessive.

We used to have a 7.5 tonne DAF horsebox and a DAF plant lorry but it seems the rules have changed in the last 10+ years.

Understandably the crane will require a through inspection / LOLER presumably every 6 months like other lifting equipment?

Truck is £4500

Apparently it's ULEZ compliant but does have high miles

 

[Munkul]

The OL fees aren't that expensive, but the 6 week inspections will mount up. Crane will be yearly unless you use it for man riding in which case it will be 6 monthly

 

[arther dailey]

truck sounds a reasonable price , if it has full service history , I packed up my trucks a few years back the reason being the extortionist cost of O license implications . be thorough on your checks , must be serviced to a shedule by registered garage irespective of mileage covered , unless your running it daily and its earning its keep I think you will find it cheaper/more cost effective to hire in a haulier for specific jobs , phone around and get a few prices ? you will need CPC for driving and traing on crane operation , it just goes on and on...sorry if its a dampner but self employed are getting legislated out of business.

 

[Brad93]

truck sounds a reasonable price , if it has full service history , I packed up my trucks a few years back the reason being the extortionist cost of O license implications . be thorough on your checks , must be serviced to a shedule by registered garage irespective of mileage covered , unless your running it daily and its earning its keep I think you will find it cheaper/more cost effective to hire in a haulier for specific jobs , phone around and get a few prices ? you will need CPC for driving and traing on crane operation , it just goes on and on...sorry if its a dampner but self employed are getting legislated out of business.

Getting ridiculous round here due to traffic and london.

Last lift, 120 miles round trip for the lorry, picked up and strapped down in less than an hour, unloaded in 20 minutes.

£900 inc VAT

Funny you say that about legislated out of business, @Milkybars was saying the same thing the other day.

We have hiab coming this week to lift some machines. Don't know cost yet but luckily we may be able to split it 3 ways

 

[Brad93]

The thing is a Restricted licence isn't going to earn its keep, it would need to be a standard licence to transport customers equipment/components to the workshop or job site for us to work on them/install/decommission etc.

 

[arther dailey]

Perhaps if you could pick up some other(regular) work to optimise the cost to you ? as crane trucks are soo usefull , on my iveco 6.5 t had a 035 hiab on, loverly to drive/use But only getting between 14 to 18 mpg !

 

[arther dailey]

The thing is a Restricted licence isn't going to earn its keep, it would need to be a standard licence to transport customers equipment/components to the workshop or job site for us to work on them/install/decommission etc.

Ok, so your customer will have to be covering costs in full in reality .

 

[Woody.v8]

@Brad93 , if its limited in use /kms you can apply for extended periods for checks, I wouldn't have thought 12 weekly checks to be unreasonable for limited use.

 

[winchman]

When I sold tools from the back of a 8 T Roadrunner, we got around ,many things claiming it was a specialist vehicle, a mobile exhibition!
Sadly it looks like you can no longer do this as they have reduced the entitlements to fewer examples.

 

[8ob]

Its not too bad Brad, that said we are on the naughty step atm
It really is simple.
First bit is like a planning application where the operating centre needs to be approved (the place you intend to operate out of). This needs advertising,best put in over the Christmas break or during school holidays.
For two trucks they will want to see a consistent 7k per truck in your bank for at least 3 months, so minimum of 14k.
You will need to appoint a transport manager (TM), they all seem to sing off the same hymn sheet @ £350 per vehicle per month.
You will need to appoint a service provider for your PMI's (preventative maintenance inspection)
You will need to select your intended service intervals, these are based on mileage so can be six weekly or stretched to twelve. Typical cost of a PMI with a loaded brake test is about £180, all trucks will have to have a loaded brake test at every PMI from April of next year, currently only need four loaded brake tests a year .

Bob

 

[Brad93]

This is the wagon, it isn't ulez so would cost £100 a day to go inside the m25

This is the sort of stuff i'd like to be delivering instead of outsourcing

 

[Agroshield]

...if its limited in use you can apply for extended periods for checks...

Details will be here:

Guide to maintaining roadworthiness: commercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles

www.gov.uk

It is Section 4.2

Note within that section if the vehicle is older than 12 years, the six week inspection is the default so you would have to do considerable work to change that.

 

[Mick Annick]

Brad

I used to run a couple of 7.5t trucks out of a lock-up in Birmingham, to get an O licence you’ll need:

Somewhere to park the vehicle overnight, including proof of permission if the site isn’t yours. An announcement will also have to go in the local paper to allow the neighbours to object if they wish
A CPC for the manager
A driver CPC
Tachograph cards - company and driver.
A system for checking tachograph records - usually rented software which you upload the data to and it reports back with any problems found.
Proof of an arrangement with a workshop to carry out repairs and maintenance - at 6 weekly intervals though as @Woody.v8 says you may get that extended, though unlikely until you’ve had the licence for a while.
A system for reporting and rectifying defects - including a daily vehicle walk around check.
A system for recording inspections and maintenance done.
Proof of insurance.

You’ll get a visit from DVSA to check these things before getting the licence, and a follow up once granted.

They have a ‘traffic light’ system for new operators, you start on red which means you’ll automatically get pulled of you pass a roadside checkpoint or a DVSA patrol spots you. You’ll gradually move to amber then green assuming you behave yourself.

It all looks a bit daunting, but once you get into it it’s not hard.

A couple of things a DVSA inspector shared with me during the process - they always target trucks at the lower end of the scale as they have the lowest gross to payload ratio so are often overloaded, they also go for trucks that have no signwriting on them - he said with a mobile billboard the size of a truck why wouldn’t have your name on it? Lastly keep the truck clean, they reason that if you can’t wash it can you be trusted to maintain it?

I’ve been retired a while but that’s how things were when i packed it in, but do your own research, and don’t be afraid to phone DVSA, they are quite helpful and open to helping people get started.

 

[Smallfry]

Does all this apply to businesses, or private use too ?

Got a crane on my Unimog and no one has ever mentioned any of this. It is over 40 years old and tax exempt.

 

[Brad93]

Does all this apply to businesses, or private use too ?

Got a crane on my Unimog and no one has ever mentioned any of this. It is over 40 years old and tax exempt.

Agriculture/Forestry has some exemptions

 

[Brad93]

Operators Licence is for any vehicle over 3.5T used on the road.

Exemptions for horse boxes and specialist vehicles.

 

[Agroshield]

Got a crane on my Unimog and no one has ever mentioned any of this.

The relevant regulations concerning the crane itself are LOLER, part of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The very important part of that is "at Work". If your situation is not within the scope of those regulations, you are not obliged to comply with them.

 

[gaz1]

would a hiab trailer be better?

 

[Mikes]

Since you already have a 4x4 and trailer, have you considered just upgrading your trailer to a 3.5 tonne six wheeler with a Hiab type crane mounted on it. They're quite expensive to buy but you do see a few 2nd hand ones for sale. Obviously depends upon the weight of the largest item that you expect to move. Beauty is that no O licence required, no additional tax, no transport manager, no regular inspections etc. Once paid for, only costs you when actually being used. Might have to put a taco on the 4x4 though. You could even build your own.

 

[8ob]

The problem with the 4x4 and trailer 7000kg exemption is what's left as a legal payload, a tri axle trailer with a crane is going to weigh 1.5 tons leaving less than a two ton payload. Far better off biting the bullet and getting an olicense and truck.

Bob