Posted By halesowen Baggie
I am trying to find out how much weight each one of our 18 tonne 2 axle, rigid lorries can be loaded with to comply with legislation.

I have looked for the tare weight on the trucks but there is no indication of this.

Should a tare weight be indicated?

What sort of figure am I looking at? I have been quoted figures from 7000 KG - 9000KG!

Posted By Mike Colborne
Due to so many variations between different vehicle makes and designs we weigh each of our lorries unladen for our own records.
If you don't have a weighbridge yourselves, contact your nearest largest transport company who may help for a small cost.
(Larger skip companies with waste transfer stations nearly always have a weighbridge)

Posted By Dave Todd
Construction & Use Regs.'99.

Your variation of 2000kg is the difference between the manufacturers design weights and the VOSA permitted weights.

Both sets of information should be displayed somewhere on each of your vehicles. Quite often, both sets are printed on the same document. A riveted steel frame is a common form of holder for the document(s).
A likely place to look is the passenger door inner skin, or somewhere in the location of the passenger footwell area. This is ideal for inspection purposes by authorities & operators, aswell as drivers & mechanics.

Always heed the figures of the Ministry Plate.
These tell you the max. permissible weights in order to comply with the C&U Regs.'99.
Ignore the manufacturers figures completely, unless you plan using the vehicles off road.

Don't forget to comply with the axle weight requirements. They are as important as the gross weight requirements. It is an offence to exceed either!

And finally, the kerb weight of the unladen vehicle includes a full fuel tank, all associated equipment to get the job done, and curiously, the driver or operational crew!

But surely your CPC holder should know all this?

Anyway, hope you find this useful.