western Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 C1E is better if you have a PRE-97 licence that allows combined mass of 8520Kg or 8.25tonnes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 How much does it cost to get the test, as a matter of interest?Daan Before xmas when I went for my assessment, the test was £125. 2 Days tuition was £500 and this included the time to do the test, so basically I am paying for 1.5 days tuition and 0.5 days for someone to sit in the test centre and drink tea. The most annoying thing was that the cost estimate told me that the course price might rise due to fuel costs.......... I'm using my own bluddy car, my insurance and my fuel and they reserve the right to put the price up!! I asked if the price could come down due to me using my own fuel, but the bloke just raised his eybrows and asked me what I thought............I said that I thought it should.......he laughed, they didn't get my money and I'm still without a towing entitlement!! Am currently looking for another place. Apparently, the only thing that you need to learn is the correct order to attach and disconnect the trailer and of course, you'll need to get back into feeding the steering wheel through your hands, not cutting lanes, mirror/signal/monouvre and all the other stuff that you learnt on your original test... Other than that, you can just turn up for the test as long as you arrive with someone who has the entitlement sat next to you and a trailer on the back. They will ask that you can not see through the back of the car and through the trailer, so a box trailer is best, or a method of strapping a board to the front of the trailer. They will not allow you to cover the rear window of the car as you need to be able to see trailer... Using a twin axle trailer will make the reversing manouvre a lot easier. You need to know where the back end is as you have to park it in a space with the rear end within an 18" deep rectangle painted on the floor (you are allowed to use a marker on the side). Hope that's some help to people looking at the test... Adrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Can I bring this one back to the top to ask for others' experiences... I have been looking further into getting my trailer entitlement, however a couple of companies have advised me that I would not be able to tow a car trailer with LR on it behind my Discovery as I will exceed the maximum allowable weight for the B+E entitlement. It was my understanding that if I pass the B+E test I could tow up to and including the trailer's plated weight/mass behind my Discovery, so say 3.5T (of LR90 on a decent trailer with brakes) behind my Discovery weighing in at approximately 2.7T..... Is that not the case, then?? The last company has told me that the GTW cannot exceed 4.25T (so 3.5T plus a 750kg trailer!!!), but that sounds like they are getting confused between the ordinary category B entitlement and the B+E one... Please tell me that they have got their figures wrong cos I am a little confuddled at the moment...! Is there an upper limit on the GTW in the B+E category......cos if there is, I can't find it anywhere!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Nah - they are wrong, the 4.25T train weight is relating to B, not B+E....you would think a training place would know this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xBenn Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Hi, B+E Entitlement allows you to drive a 3.5T MAM vehicle and no restriction on trailer ratio/combination. I have a license after 1997 so had to take the test to gain the entitlement, it was paid for by my company as I worked as a transport/logistics controller at the time. For clarification the test you take is a HGV equivilent test and the same reversing manouver applies whether you are driving a 44T Lorry or a vehicle and trailer combination. There is also a braking test where you are supposed to bring the trailer to stop within a specified distance and without the trailer losing traction. There are no manouvers to do in the test apart from the reversing exercise done at the test centre, they will also ask you to stop by the side of the road a maximum of five times where two of them must atleast be an uphill and downhill start (as well one where you park behind a car and pull out). The trailer must also never cross the white lines of your lane (unless needed of course) which means making sure your trailer stays in lane at a roundabout for example.. You are expected to follow every rule you followed in your original test but to a better standard since you are a qualified driver they expect you to be more experienced. You will also be asked to hitch and unhitch a trailer (it's very easy, just remember the exact order they want you to do things) also there is an extended show me/tell me test to do at the start of the test. The trailer must also be a trailer with MAM more than 750kg and you must not be able to see the trailer out of the rear of your vehicle... basically it's all mirror work!! The test is £125 iirc and the rest will be tuition fee's, there will also be an option to hand over your license at the end of the test (to the driving examiner) and a new one will be sent out automatically, which means you will not need to pay to send it off.. Hope that helps.. Any queries give me a shout. Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xBenn Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 To add to my last comment; Smo is correct the 4.25t limit applies when the trailers MAM is less or equal to 750kg. So for e.g. on B entitlement you could use up to a 3.5 tonne vehicle + a 750kg mam trailer... Making a total MAM of 4.25T If the trailer has a MAM of more than 750kg... then a COMBINED MAM of 3.5T applies as long as the MAM of the trailer is not more than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle.. You will need B+E entitlement when the trailers MAM EXCEEDS 750kg as well as exceeding the unladen weight of the towing vehicle..... or both the combined MAM of trailer (with a MAM more than 750kg) + towing vehicle together are over 3.5t. As said remember if the MAM of the trailer is below 750kg then a combined MAM of 4.25t can be applied. ... Hope that helps? Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacks906 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 this is very confusing i use to work on a farm when i was 17/18 doing everything you can think of towing wise, i now have my class 2 license but i'm now moving to romainia and for the trip the plan is to use mine a def 90 plus sanky to take all my stuff over, plus my cousins 110 does this mean i'm not suppose to "really" tow it cheers for any advice as i may have to re think the plans dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissvdh Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I know this will not solve your long term problem, but i passed my test after 97 too, all i have on the back of my license is B,B1,f,k,p. I tow a large horse box with jap 4x4 using L plates. as long as the person sat beside me has entitlement i am ok... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmatt Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I know this will not solve your long term problem, but i passed my test after 97 too, all i have on the back of my license is B,B1,f,k,p. I tow a large horse box with jap 4x4 using L plates. as long as the person sat beside me has entitlement i am ok... I think you'll find if you look hard enough you can't tow a laden trailer on L plates. When I did my Trailer test at work I could only practise on L's with an empty trailer even when out with the DSA approved instructor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I think you'll find if you look hard enough you can't tow a laden trailer on L plates. When I did my Trailer test at work I could only practise on L's with an empty trailer even when out with the DSA approved instructor. Have you got a link to this information from a reliable source? As this is how I have been towing recently, and was unaware of this rule. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 It'd be interesting if you could find that in the rules Matt, I've never seen it. L plates should give you normal B+E as long as the person sat next to you has and has had B+E for at least three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmatt Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Have you got a link to this information from a reliable source? As this is how I have been towing recently, and was unaware of this rule. thanks Its two years since I did mine I will have a look at work in my locker tomorrow, I am 99% certain that was the case. I have a friend who I can ask too who is clued up on it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedLineMike Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 my head hurts was gonna go 1/2ers on the test etc with work untill they seen the cost however the towing with the L plates on seems a good way to get my 90 to the muddytruckers & manby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McS Junior Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 L plates should give you normal B+E as long as the person sat next to you has and has had B+E for at least three years In a way you're right, but this is intended for training purposes only. If you dont have a B+E, you should only be towing a trailer over 750kg MAM if a). the person sat beside you has grandfather rights or has held their B+E for 3 years and b ). you are doing so as training in preparation for your test and c). you are displaying L plates . As such, whilst you can tow a loaded trailer under these circumstances (i.e. to gain experience), the regulations are not intended to allow you to bypass having to take the test at all. If you are stopped by the Police or VOSA and you are contravening any of these stipulations, you (the driver) and potentially your co-driver could face legal action. Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smo Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 The law states that as long as the person next to you has B+E as described above then its legal - the reasons behind doing it are not required by law and if they ask, then its fairly simple as you are practicing for your test, perfectly legal either way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmatt Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I stand Corrected, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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