Came across these interesting vehicles used in Scandinavia.
I guess they would be legally categorised as buses, given the number of seats, but with very large luggage compartments to carry parcels or pallets.
Here is a link to one of the operators: http://www.bussgods.se/
If they are good enough to meet the required PSV criteria through appropriate bodies (more than eight seats, with correct gangway layout, roof hatches, escape doors, etc) then they would be classed as such.
This would mean you could operate such a vehicle to take advantage of the concessions granted to PSVs, such as use of bus lanes, faster speed limits, no Sunday restrictions in Germany/France, etc.
Perhaps it wouldn’t make economic sense from a purely commercial transport point of view, but it could be useful for a small number of specialist applications, such as motorsport, horseboxes and so on.
I understand some pro cycling teams don’t bother with lorries now, and simply run a small fleet of coaches with half the seats pulled out so they can do just that.
