Vosa are on the prowl for trailers now they have rattled Lorries

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neddynosh

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www.byhurstfarmservicesllp.com
nice man (Highways/vosa) at hickstead let it slip that the next target for the 'ministry' are the people who tow trailers, mainly they are going for the 'overweight' side of things, before you go off and say I only carry a pony so it won't affect me. its not the weight of the animal its the maximum weight of the trailer the ministry go by. my ifor williams trailer's maximum weight is 2600kg. best you check the towing capacity of your car/4x4 and the max weight of the trailer before you get nicked. luckily my max towing weight is 3,400kg.
 
Good! About time too!

Having seen an old rice trailer and a chunky 14.2hh cob pulled by an old vauxhall astra recently!!!!!

And at the same event an ifor williams trailer with a 14.2 and a 15.2 towed by a volvo estate!!!
 
I followed an old ifor with two horses on board being towed by a VW camper van (the old orange type beloved by surfers!!!).
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So are they not as bothered by the 3.5t thing as by the overall outfit weight?.I have a 511 trailer and a Landy defender with has a 3.5t towing weight.I only take one small- ish cob.I dont have the B+E yet.
 
It's been a while since I looked into this, but from what I remember, it's the maximum allowable mass (MAM) that is the issue, not the actual weight, so you would need to take the towing test to tow a 511 with a defender. The total MAM of car plus trailer cannot exceed 3.5 tonnes - you would be over that with those.
 
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So are they not as bothered by the 3.5t thing as by the overall outfit weight?.I have a 511 trailer and a Landy defender with has a 3.5t towing weight.I only take one small- ish cob.I dont have the B+E yet.

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Unless you are towing this set up with L-plates on and a driver in the passenger seat who does have the B+E entitlement, I'm afraid this is illegal.
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Carrying on from that, I wonder how many people they pick up will turn out to not have passed the trailer test (who ought to have done). I can think of a few I know of who tow when they should not because they have not passed the test, and are not displaying L plates, or being supervised.
 
I don't know if it's true but a friend who has towed with L plates and a qualified driver in the passenger seat was told by an instructor when she went for lessons before her test that you shouldn't be towing with a horse in the back if you haven't passed your test. An empty trailer is fine, but one loaded with a horse isn't.
 
Thats is what i dont understand,my landy weight is 1685kg my trailer is 1t so surely that leaves me with 815kg for a cob who comes in at 525kg,plus me,water and tack and haynets.That does not come to 3.5t
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It's because they go on the maximum allowable mass,(biggest possible laden weight) not actual weights. Although the Landy weighs 1685kg it has a MAM of 2400kg (ie it could legally carry up to that weight). The 511 although it is only 1000kg itself, has a MAM of 2600kg so the two together add up to 5 tonnes. To tow legally you would need a trailer with a MAM of 1100kg or less or to pass your test.
 
Or have held a licence since before the grouping change!!

One would suggest you all pay a visit to the DVLA and VOSA sites to enlighten yourselves to the facts.

As for VOSA enforcement..it's always been the case they will take a peek... however they do concentrate on commercial vehicles ie 7.5t and will continue to do so.

Vosa dont seek out the licence enforcement side of things for horses/trailers/towing...thats a police matter... there more interested in safety and regulations.

Read up on the information, make yourselves aware of all the facts and how it works... it's easy to comply.

And re the above old motors towing... from what i read... I would stake money that the combination is perfectly legal!! It's newer vehicles that pose issues with kerbside weight!!
 
It's about time VOSA sorted out the overweight horse trailer combinations & Horseboxes that are overloaded. The drivers know they are overweight but don't care. Hopefully that will now change as overweight vehicles are dangerous as brakes, handling & stability are all affected & they are a danger not just to themselves but everyone else as well.

I have no sympathy for the drivers at all. I know the ulw of my lorry, I took it to a weigh bridge. I know the weight of my horses, passengers & roughly what the tack etc weighs. With that knowledge I know i'm at least half a ton within weight. It's not rocket science, you can work it all out, it ain't hard!
 
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I have no sympathy for the drivers at all. I know the ulw of my lorry, I took it to a weigh bridge.

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peeps dont even need to do that. Both axle weights are on the brake test report.
 
I do.
Front axle I have 211kg spare when I drive.
Rear axle limit vs weight would mean the lorry would be overweight well before reaching max rear axle load.

What is important for rear axle is where the horse is positioned. The horse area in my lorry extends 5' in front of and 7' behind rear axle. Distributing weight of horses evenly over rear axle ensures the front axle load isn't compromised.
When traveling a single horse it goes on or behind axle, never in front.
 
Hi all, I have to be careful here as my job is somewhat to do with this.

There is a plate on every vehicle that lists the maximum legally allowed weight for front axle, rear axle and gross weight (GVW), and also a gross train weight (GTW) - if it has a towing hitch. It is usually in the door trim or under the bonnet.

If your maximum towing weight mentioned on your 4x4 is 3,600kgs then that includes the horse, trailer, car, fuel, you and anything else you are carrying - not just the trailer.

VOSA have to measure your vehicle on flat level ground, as any slope can affect the readings. They usually allow you approx a 5% margin of error, although this is at their discretion.

The largest problem with horseboxes is that they are often heavy to start with and if you look through the literature from various manufacturers you will note that they say '2 stall-horsebox' and not '2 horse-horsebox' etc.

It is entirely up to you to avoid overloading. There are various things that can help prevent it. I would suggest going to google or jeeves or something and searching for 'axle load indication' or 'overload protection'. Brake.org is VOSA's info website and has some really good stuff on it too.

I am afraid i'm also going to have to dispel some mis-understandings. As of the start of this year, things started to change with VOSA, and as of June/July by me (I understand it has been coming in area by area) they now have the power to stop/seize and penalise on the side of the road. They are the equals of the police when it comes to vehicle stopping powers.

It is true that VOSA used to focus on 7.5T commercials and above, however with the Tacho regulations, most large fleet companies have moved to using 3.5T vehicles to avoid this, and as such VOSA have now learnt to target smaller vehicles (as they are more easily overloaded). Being a private owner and not a company does not help in avoiding penalties all that much in my experience.
 
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