Did you know there's going to be a government crackdown on overloaded vans in 2012?
When a couple of VOSA officials (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) pulled over a large van and accused the driver of being overloaded, he marched round the back of the van and threw open the doors saying: "I cant be overloaded, see, there's room for more stuff in the back!"
WRONG! you can still be overloaded even when the vehicle is not fully loaded. Lets say you have a large 3.5 tonne van, this doesn't mean you can carry 3.5 tonne of payload. The 3.5 is the GVW ( Gross Vehicle Weight) which is driver, passengers, fuel, and load.
Different vans vary, such as a 3.5 van with rear wheel drive can carry around 1600kgs, whereas a long wheelbase 3.5 can only carry 1450kgs. So be careful.
The easy way to check what weight the van can carry is to look at the VIN plate which is located on the door jamb or under the bonnet.
So there it is people watch what your putting in the back of your vans, or pay the penalty which can be up to £800 so i heard.
