Can someone answer a this question that has popped up in a work discusssion.
Can you drive a artic tractor unit without a trailer on a class 2 licence ?
Thank you
motorman:
Can someone answer a this question that has popped up in a work discusssion.
Can you drive a artic tractor unit without a trailer on a class 2 licence ?Thank you
Yes
Isn’t that only if the 5th wheel cannot be coupled to a trailer or has been removed all together(heard this before somewhere)
Welcome to Trucknet-UK motorman 
motorman:
Can someone answer a this question that has popped up in a work discusssion.
Can you drive a artic tractor unit without a trailer on a class 2 licence ?Thank you
Yes
A unit without a trailer is a rigid therefore a category C license is required to drive it, you could even use it to pull a trailer not exceeding 750 kg with a cat C license.
There’s no need to take off the 5th wheel or the air or electrical leads or alter the unit in any way in order to stop a trailer being used.
It’s a cat C vehicle until a trailer exceeding 750 kg is attached.
A fellow worker (experienced class 1 driver) had argued the point that the 5th wheel had to be removed and this is what i was unsure off due to not long passing my class 2
Glad this is cleared up
Many thanks guys
motorman:
A fellow worker (experienced class 1 driver) had argued the point that the 5th wheel had to be removed
I believe that used to be the case years ago but not any more.
If your mate needs convincing go here and check the vehicle categories 
Tachograph- I stand corrected cheers mate.
Thanks Tachograph I am happy knowing i am correct will let him think what he likes ( As always ) 
I think people need to forget the class 1 or 2 thing. They don’t exist. Cat C is a truck be it flat, curtain or tractor unit, Cat C+E means you can pull a trailer with it, simples. Just wondering when did class 1,2 and 3 get replaced by C+E
Hi Guys, do I understand correctly I can give my daughter Cat C lessons on my unit as long as there’s no trailer.
So long as you’ve held your truck licence for 3 years minimum, she has provisional cat C, insurance and you’ve taken your valium, then I don’t see any problems.
Oh, and some ‘L’ plates, standard car sized ones.
Thank you,that will save some money had been looking for a old flat bed to let her get some on the road experience.Hopefully won’t need valium,taught her to drive on a road trip 12hrs driving (over 2 days) Exeter to Nottingham and back.Instructor put her strait in for the test. She passed.
On the Motorhome forums, they say you can even drive a unit and 40ft trailer as long as it is converted into living only space as long as you passed your car test pre 98(?), daft bit is that if you take the unit off, it then needs a class 2 (in old money).
There is now no size or weight limits to motorhomes and all the legislation on HGV’s refers specifically to HGV’s which can’t include motorhomes as they don’t need the rest of the paraphernalia that an HGV does to be on the road eg limiter or tacho, so therefore they are not HGV’s so the rules don’t count.
Now before the incoming starts, I DON’T AGREE WITH IT, it’s just another case of the DFT getting the details all wrong.
DoYouMeanMe?:
On the Motorhome forums, they say you can even drive a unit and 40ft trailer as long as it is converted into living only space as long as you passed your car test pre 98(?), daft bit is that if you take the unit off, it then needs a class 2 (in old money).
There is now no size or weight limits to motorhomes and all the legislation on HGV’s refers specifically to HGV’s which can’t include motorhomes as they don’t need the rest of the paraphernalia that an HGV does to be on the road eg limiter or tacho, so therefore they are not HGV’s so the rules don’t count.
Now before the incoming starts, I DON’T AGREE WITH IT, it’s just another case of the DFT getting the details all wrong.
You can drive any heavy goods vehicle, first registered before 1 January 1960, without an HGV licence, provided that the vehicle an any trailer are unladen. In this case, they are also exempt plating & testing.
It was true when the license categories changed that there was a loop hole in the weight restriction for trailers, which basically meant a normal 40ft trailer could be pulled by something in the weight range of a Transit Pick Up, this of course would seem to us to be ridiculous and down right dangerous but there were certain members of the community that could take advantage of this and TRAVEL on our roads, say no more!
However when the clanger was brought to light the weight restriction was put in place, as for motorhomes you probably can pull a trailer of 40 ft in length due to a similar discrepancy in length limits (worth a check) but the weight restriction of 750kg will still apply so any advantage in length, if there was any, would be counteracted by the weight limit unless it was hooked up to a tractor unit that could legally pull a trailer over the limit weight as we often see at shows. In other words a C+E Cat (old Class 1) Vehicle, is a vehicle over 3500kg with a trailer OVER 750kg and a C Cat (old Class 2/3) Vehicle is a vehicle over 3500kg with a trailer UP TO 750kg.
As you see 750kg isn’t a lot and it was this weight limit that was missing during the initial change to the license category and why now the C+E Category covers Artics and Wagon and Drags. The difference of the vehicle being a motorhome or LGV is neither here nor there it depends on the weight of the towing vehicle and the weight of the trailer it can pull and the MAM (Maximum Authorised Mass) or Gross Vehicle/Combination Weight as we more commonly know it, this of course is marked on the plate fitted to all vehicles. Many motorists including small businesses are sometimes unaware of the correct legal limits for towing trailers and are ignorant of the fact they are breaking the law. Cheers Franky.
Frankydobo:
Many motorists including small businesses are sometimes unaware of the correct legal limits for towing trailers and are ignorant of the fact they are breaking the law. Cheers Franky.
I recall a number of car dealers being caught out, where a light van or 4x4, plus a car on a trailer, rather exceeded 3500kgs train weight, and they had neither tacho nor O licence.
I wonder also why VOSA don’t walk around the local markets, to see how many 7.5 tonners have no sign of an O LIcence disc of any colour…
Franky.
It seems they have, thankfully, closed this loophole. Just re-checked the regs on the Direct.gov site and they have brought the weight limits back in. A couple of years back they dropped them and said that a motorhome was only limited by a maximum size it could be. There are though, still people out there who have argued the case that what they did last year was legal and how can it be illegal to do it now. One guy was selling a converted coach motorhome on Ebay a couple of years back and I mentioned to him that where he stated that it could be driven on a normal car licence was wrong, below I have copied his reply.
sorry to tell you , YOU ARE WRONG , as when the coach is registered as a motorhome , it is plg (PRIVATE LIGHT GOODS ) SAME TAX AS A CAR & SAME MOT AS A CAR (as long as testing station can do a full mot on the vehicle) also there is not a weight restriction on driving a motorhome , as i have owned & driven a 40 feet artic as was registered as a motorhome ,but i couldnt drive the daf unit if i un hitch it from the trailer unit ,unless i removed the fifth wheel , hence i passed my car driving test in 1989 but the newer licence may differ , as my mate cant even drive a 7.5 tonne as only passed a few years ago , even a 16 tonne truck registered as a motorhome can be driven on a older car liecence as its a motorhome not a hgv thanks kindly for your wrong advise ,but ive been driving motorhomes of all sizes for 22 years now (also cheap insurance)
I then trawled through a load of web sites and there were loads of people who had trucks and even artics as motorhomes and were driving them on an ordinary (early) car licence, who have been stopped by police in this country, but none have ever (so far) been taken to court about it. Many cases have been started but all have been dropped just before the case was due to be heard.
You try and find a case that actually went all the way, see if you can do better than me.
Incidentally, I did do quite well out of the licence issues by fetching them back from abroad when they got caught in Europe without a HGV licence, but it seems that they are less tempted to open that can of worms in this country.
Another bit that confuses me is that someone was told by the DVLA, (who then put a diclaimer on the bottom of the letter saying that the DVLA does not make laws and only a court can decide what is or isn’t legal) he must take a class 2 test before he drives his motorhome. He went to take the test in the motorhome and was told he couldn’t because it is nt a class 2 vehicle.
Still, what can you expect from a country that gives you a wagon and drag licence on grandad rights, but if you want an artic licence you have to take a test in a wagon and drag to prove you can handle an artic?!?
motorman:
Can someone answer a this question that has popped up in a work discusssion.
Can you drive a artic tractor unit without a trailer on a class 2 licence ?Thank you
Hi motorman,
As mentioned in the following link, this is one of the most asked questions on TNUK:
russell2587:
I think people need to forget the class 1 or 2 thing. They don’t exist. Cat C is a truck be it flat, curtain or tractor unit, Cat C+E means you can pull a trailer with it, simples. Just wondering when did class 1,2 and 3 get replaced by C+E
1/6/1990 was the date that classes 1,2 and 3 were replaced with c,ce