ROG:
Scarab:
ROG:
PS - I’m used to using the newer catagories cos I have to for my job - when I can get one
Bah! go on agency for a bit and do some real trucking, you know you want to
I wish - but the old back won’t take it anymore - opening a curtainsider will pull it and put me out of action for days, sometimes pulling the fifth wheel handle will do the same but the ‘driving’ bit is OK - know anyone who wants a ‘steering wheel attendant’
Container driver?
Hi all
my gaffer was buying an old tractor unit and rang VOSA to ask whether he could drive it (only car and c1 lic) and was told that until it was added to the o lic he could drive it if it weighed less than 7.5 t sounded a bit strange to me !!!
jdc:
Tramper:
Jesus Christ!!!
Are you all mental!!!
A tractor unit, whether it is a 4x2 or a 6x2 or any other configuration, is a rigid Large Goods Vehicle. Therefore you will require a Class C licence to drive it.
This changes when yopu attach a trailer, as it becomes a Large Goods Vehicle towing a trailer then you need a C+E.
There used to be a requirement to make a tractor unit an incomplete vehicle by disabling the fifth wheel, but this requirement was removed some time ago.
So the answer is YESYOU CAN DRIVE A TRACTOR UNIT ON A CLASS C LICENCE…and breathe…
He has seen it and he does agree with everything Tramper said. 
On one of the hundred or so other times this question was asked I emailed the DVLA, because people couldn’t grasp the bleeding obvious that a tractor unit is simply a rigid goods vehicle, and they emailed me back confirming that a Cat C licence was fine for driving a tractor unit. I posted that email on the thread at the time but I really can’t be arsed searching for it to drag it up again, just to once again confirm the obvious…
Tractor units without 5th wheels used to be classed as a “heavy locomotive” not a heavy goods vehicle, due to the fact that they coudn’t carry a load, and therefore did not come under HGV licencing rules. This as harry monk said meant that new units without 5th wheels were often delivered by trade platers with only a car licence. That little loophole is I believe long since gone.
Totally agree with Tramper!
Just to throw another little spanner in the works, an artic unit without a fifth wheel is deemed as unusable as a goods vehicle. Some show only trucks have the fifth wheel removed as it is then deemed a personal vehicle and does not require an operators license. As per the great lisping burk in Brighton or Chris Eubank as he is known.
The 7.5t does apply if you only have a C1 rated license but if you have a CAT C you can drive a tractor unit without a fifth wheel upto normal rigid weights AKA eubank again for example.
You cannot however transport anything on the chassis.
Now I am sure we can argue this one for at least another page! 
Just to make sure it lasts, many moons ago I worked as a diesel fitter only 18yrs young we used to collect chassis and cabs from Bedford(TK’s and TL’s)
and deliver them to the body builders, but once a body was attatched and the truck plated I could not drive them as I had no Class 2 entitlement. Hence why no fifth wheel and lack of plating allows private owners to drive without a O’license!!
N2N Transport:
…but if you have a CAT C you can drive a tractor unit without a fifth wheel upto normal rigid weights…
If you have a Cat C it doesn’t matter if the 5th wheel is present or not, you can drive it. As you say Cat C is for rigid gods vehicles, tractor unit is a rigid goods vehicle with a two axle unit normally plated at around 18 tonnes while a three axle unit is around 21 tonnes, I think it’s about 21 tonnes but I can’t remember exactly.
The whole removing the 5th wheel thing goes way back and was something to do with a unit being classed as an incomplete motor vehicle without a 5th wheel and what licence you could drive an incomplete motor vehicle on. It’s historic now and is about as relevant to the original question as Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 are, not relevant at all.
N2N Transport:
Just to throw another little spanner in the works, an artic unit without a fifth wheel is deemed as unusable as a goods vehicle. Some show only trucks have the fifth wheel removed as it is then deemed a personal vehicle and does not require an operators license.
So what if you had a rigid show truck? Would you need an ‘O’ licence (as goods could be carried). I think you’ve applied the same “can’t drive a tractor unit on a C licence” logic towards operators licencing
This was my Peterbilt Show Truck, it was not registered on my O’licence
Note the 5th Wheel
Whether a tractor unit has a 5th wheel or not, you can still…
And way back when you could drive a tractor unit with the fifth wheel removed in the 3rd land on the motorway at 70mph, because it was classed as an heavy motor car and not a goods vehicle.
Thanks Tramper.
Actually the reason I was enquiring about this was for a show truck, so I could go pick it up before I’ve done my class 1. I know all about having it registered as a private vehicle and insuring it as a show vehicle. Thats a real nice Peterbuilt by the way.
