Looking to rent a removal van to do a removal to france for a friend of mine to save him some money and make a few bob myself. Problem is i’m having problems trying to find anyone who will rent anything bigger than a 7.5 tonner to an individual. Anybody out there know of any companies who will rent out a removal van to an individual who has an HGV licence and also let me take it to France. If not anyone able to recommend a removal company who will do a good deal from Scotland to Bordeaux region in France. looking to rent truck for about a week.
from where in scotland and does it have to be a removal van would an 18 tonner with tail lift not do? you can hire these from various companies
Not wanting to pour wet stuff on your bonfire, I’d advise you to be careful.
If you’re doing the job for another person, the authorities might have a problem believing that there’s no element of “hire and reward” going on here. You see, they’d expect you to have an operator’s licence. If they thought that was indeed the case, you’d probably lose the wagon if discovered in the UK. (You’d probably then owe the hire company for a replacement 
) I wouldn’t like to predict what would happen if you’re caught in France, but the fine would certainly be large enough to spoil your day 
Just a thought…
if you aint got an operators licence you cant rent even a 7.5 tonnner
if you aint got an operators licence you cant rent even a 7.5 tonnner
Course you can, so long as its not for hire and reward. How do people do it when they house move themselves if thats the case?
scania245:
if you aint got an operators licence you cant rent even a 7.5 tonnner
Generally, that’s a fair point, but there are some exemptions for certain things. One is the non-commercial movement of own goods, such as a household removal. My point was that it might be viewed differently in France, so I urged caution on that basis.
The other thing is that a hire company might not be aware of the various exemptions, because they aren’t required to have a CPC qualified transport manager. It’s probably company policy to insist on an “O” licence for all hires, because several hire/leasing firms have had their fingers burned when VOSA impounded their vehicles. There’s usually an impounding story in either Commercial Motor or Motor Transport each week, so this is well-documented.
I wouldn’t imagine that the front counter staff at a truck hire company would be aware of the the finer points at issue here though…
A hire/lease company whose vehicle is impounded might apply to the TC or ultimately to the Transport Tribunal for the return of the vehicle, but there’s a “duty of care” requirement that they made sufficient enquiries before taking the hirer’s/lessee’s money.
pugwash, the original question involves a journey to France, so although you’re ok with your comment as it relates to the UK, do you understand the the French “O” licensing system?? Do they have the same exemption??
(I wouldn’t have a clue TBH )
its uk regd so wouldnt really care, if being used for a personal removal.
you would need a letter of autherisation from the hire company in french saying they autherise you to use the vehicle in france and that it is being used for a personal removal.
as long as tachos were all in order (as of 11 april all vehicles over 7.5t have to use cards even for personal use) and all paper work were in order les poulets wouldnt give you to much greif, more likely to be customs.
if the vehicle was hired in your mates name and he was with you whilst traveling, and all you are doing is “helping” out a mate then who cares if a bit of folding is being handed over 
salut
chris
how much stuff are you moving volume wise? in my experience by the time you factor in the ferry costs, fuel, tolls, truck hire + insurance, packing materials, time (time is money) etc etc, it is usually cheaper to use a removals company, it all depends on the volume though, and how much you value your belongings
i looked in to hiring a 17.5t and it worked out cheaper to use the pros.
caveman:
i looked in to hiring a 17.5t and it worked out cheaper to use the pros.
My brother recently moved to Switzerland and was quoted £8500. So he looked at hiring a truck but struggled to find a company willing to oblige.
In the end, a friend of a friend, who is an owner driver, did the job for £1800 all in.
alright mate to give u an idea of what ur looking at we do hire vans out and by vans i mean jst a luton transit. The cost of this is 150pounds perday + VAT. This includes all ur packing materials and the use of blankets ties etc… The insurance only covers the van and not ur Contents. IMHO this is a RIP off and my boss is a Greedy ■■■■■ But i would suggest getting the pros in as usually it does work out cheaper once u factor in petrol etc etc… hope this is a lil insite
there are many couriers using XLWB sprinters (their not all “White Van Men”) to do personal goods to France and Spain (I know of one local company sending 2 to France later this month) and there are some who hire a container and pack it themselves.
look at some courier sites as there are many removal firms use these sites for “back loads”
we used to hire 7.5 and above from Ryder and a place in Blaydon without an O Licence
but to be quite honest and Iv’e done it it is often more cost effective to sell up here and buy localy
having lived abroad I certainly would’t think of moving household goods to France
if your taken houshold goods I understand you don’t need a CMR but this may have changed
keelman:
if your taken houshold goods I understand you don’t need a CMR but this may have changed
^^^Still applies ^^^ 
One problem you might have with a hire company could be insurance, under normal circumstances the person renting provides his own (fully comp) cover, I doubt any insurance company will give you this type of cover for only one week. If you run a small fleet of trucks you would have no problem getting overlap insurance for 1 extra hire vehicle.
Ross.
RYDER Truck Rental provide insurance upto 18T.
If you ask your local office they sometimes have an older unit available at 60ish a day.
However as others above have said you need a UK O’license to hire over 7.5T, 7.5T can be rented without an O as a private hire but cannot be used by a company or delivering goods even own goods. VOSA are pretty sharp on stopping 7.5’s to acess the load and will confiscate the truck and load if they believe your bending the rules.
N2N Transport:
However as others above have said you need a UK O’license to hire over 7.5
Why if it’s purely for private use? If you needed an O licence the rule would start at 3.5 tonnes anyway not 7.5t.
However as others above have said you need a UK O’license to hire over 7.5T, 7.5T can be rented without an O as a private hire but cannot be used by a company or delivering goods even own goods.
So whats the point to that? joyriding?
pugwash, the original question involves a journey to France, so although you’re ok with your comment as it relates to the UK, do you understand the the French “O” licensing system?? Do they have the same exemption??
(I wouldn’t have a clue TBH )
I would’nt have thought is not a problem with VOSA explaining it in English but unless your French is OK you may have a problem getting across that your just helping a mate out and not doing commercial work
some i know a mate who hired a HGV class one to move to his new home in ireland , saw the thing parked in front of his house on the day of the move .
he used RYDER Truck Rental.
David
killsville:
caveman:
i looked in to hiring a 17.5t and it worked out cheaper to use the pros.My brother recently moved to Switzerland and was quoted £8500. So he looked at hiring a truck but struggled to find a company willing to oblige.
In the end, a friend of a friend, who is an owner driver, did the job for £1800 all in.
I told TC he should have done the Swiss trip! Nice trip out for the old girl after doing the west of Ireland 
Pugwash,
what I should have said was nothing commercial, you can carry your furniture or for example building materials to your own place of residence where a nil profit"reward" exists. etc. but if you had say 50 TV’s in the back no amount of arguing that they are all yours would work.
MRPJ - yes 3.5T or over just used to going at the maximum laden weight of 7.5T
Here is the link for Ryder and classifications that require O’license
europe.ryder.com/internet/w/web. … 0final.pdf
As for Artic Rental yes they will look at it apparently without an O’license but it is down to the local TM to approve based on driver experience etc. and then Insurance to private users is unlikely “quoting their site”