I work at a place which has roughly five artics deliver to it a day. I was walking past a German artic last week and being quite eagle eyed I looked at the number plate on the trailor and then noticed that the one on the cab did’nt match, I think it may have even been something other than German.
I thought it a little odd but I’ve been looking whenever I see a foreign truck come in now and the last three I’ve looked at have all had a totally different number plate on the back of the trailor compared to on the back of the unit.
I know that this is illegal and likely to get you pulled if seen but does Johnny Foreigner know? One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
I’d hazard a guess that the driver leaves the wrong plate on so that if he goes through a camera or clips a car, building etc its basically untraceable
Dakota:
I know that this is illegal and likely to get you pulled if seen but does Johnny Foreigner know? One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
I’d hazard a guess that the driver leaves the wrong plate on so that if he goes through a camera or clips a car, building etc its basically untraceable
Perfectly legal, most mainland countries consider the trailer to be a vehicle in it’s own right so it has it’s own registration. It’s only Britain and Ireland where the trailer takes on the unit’s reg number.
Dakota:
I know that this is illegal and likely to get you pulled if seen but does Johnny Foreigner know? One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
I’d hazard a guess that the driver leaves the wrong plate on so that if he goes through a camera or clips a car, building etc its basically untraceable
It’s not illegal, your tech at work is right, in every other country in Europe trailers have their own registration and the registration plates are permanently fixed to the trailer.
Dakota:
… One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
This^^^
Hi Dakota,
It’s very far from being BS mate, because it’s very common for a foreign registered trailer to have an identity document (like our V5)and registration plate of its own, in fact most other countries do it this way.
The UK is almost unique in that a trailer doesn’t have a registration number of its own. The UK requirement for a trailer to exhibit the same (a duplicate) registration number as that of the prime mover is therefore difficult for foreign people to understand.
I had this when I worked in Italy in the 80s… their trailers had their own (quite small) registration plate to be permanently displayed on what we would call the offside of the trailer, but very near the back. Italy is the only other place that I’ve seen a requirement for the rear of the trailer to exhibit the same registration number as the prime mover.
I’m not sure if Italy still does the same nowadays.
Dakota:
… One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
This^^^
Hi Dakota,
It’s very far from being BS mate, because it’s very common for a foreign registered trailer to have an identity document (like our V5)and registration plate of its own, in fact most other countries do it this way.
The UK is almost unique in that a trailer doesn’t have a registration number of its own. The UK requirement for a trailer to exhibit the same (a duplicate) registration number as that of the prime mover is therefore difficult for foreign people to understand.
I had this when I worked in Italy in the 80s… their trailers had their own (quite small) registration plate to be permanently displayed on what we would call the offside of the trailer, but very near the back. Italy is the only other place that I’ve seen a requirement for the rear of the trailer to exhibit the same registration number as the prime mover.
I’m not sure if Italy still does the same nowadays.
Still the same there Dave.Unit/prime mover reg on ( their ) offside and trailer reg on the nearside marked as trailer.
In France and perhaps other countries any trailer over 500 KGS gross has it’s own reg no. and log book. That includes caravans and large luggage type trailers. However they don’t need an MOT. Don’t know at what weight they require an MOT.
In the UK, you may see a UK registered truck pulling a Dutch, Danish or other foreign trailer. this will have it’s own registration number shown in addition to the registered number of the UK unit.
You may also see Romanian registered trucks pulling Dutch or German registered trailers, but those trailers don’t have the same registration plate as the towing unit, only their own national registration number.
When doing TIR work to the middle east and we needed a Triptyche for each vehicle, the trailer was known by it’s own number, it may have been a fleet number, but any number that identified that trailer.
In addition, the TIR carnet,(Customs document for the load), it was wise to only put the trailer number on as the transporting vehicle, as in the event of a breakdown or change over when you may have to change units, the goods document still applied to the carrying vehicle.
Another minor point…
Should you be involved in an accident with a foreign registered truck make sure you get the registration of BOTH the tractor unit AND the trailer
Dakota:
I know that this is illegal and likely to get you pulled if seen but does Johnny Foreigner know? One of the Techs at work said that in some EU countries the trailor does’nt have to match the unit, I’m not sure about that, sounds like BS.
I’d hazard a guess that the driver leaves the wrong plate on so that if he goes through a camera or clips a car, building etc its basically untraceable
Perfectly legal, most mainland countries consider the trailer to be a vehicle in it’s own right so it has it’s own registration. It’s only Britain and Ireland where the trailer takes on the unit’s reg number.
peirre:
Another minor point…
Should you be involved in an accident with a foreign registered truck make sure you get the registration of BOTH the tractor unit AND the trailer
Yes! Excellent advice, even do it for a UK registered truck pulling a contintal registered trailer.
peirre:
Another minor point…
Should you be involved in an accident with a foreign registered truck make sure you get the registration of BOTH the tractor unit AND the trailer
