Courier Business Stuff

Are you asking about the LEZ, which is based on particulate emissions, or the new CO2 emission based congestion charge?

If it’s the congestion charge then I don’t think there’s any need to worry about it – as far as I can see it will only apply to cars and to double cab pick-ups. The only change for vans is that there’ll be a £2 reduction for vehicles which meet Euro 5 standards.
 

Posted under Tolls, Charges & Fines, Vans

I’m not sure where the issue of driving licence categories comes into it but my understanding is:
A category B (ONLY) licence allows you to tow any trailer up to a combined (ie vehicle & trailer) MAM of 3500kg BUT the MAM of the trailer must be less than the UNLADEN weight of the towing vehicle. It also allows you to drive a VEHICLE with a MAM of 3500kg, towing a trailer of 750kg or less.

The B+E licence allows you to drive any vehicle up to 3500kg MAM PLUS any trailer up to the manufacturer’s limit. There’s no 3.5 GTW limit for B+E licence holders, except for the weight of the towing vehicle.

Patrick said “any road vehicle that exceeds 1525kg ulw would require an `O` licence” – I guess he didn’t mean that?? That would include every van bigger than a Scudo.
 

Posted under Uncategorized, Vans

It’s bullshit. The EU directive that brought in compulsory speed limiters for 3.5-7.5t vehicles was passed in 2002 after 2 or 3 years of discussions and it still won’t be fully implemented until next January. As far as I’m aware there isn’t even a draft directive under discussion for the introduction of speed limiters for vans under 3.5t and even if there was you’d be talking at least 5 years in the future before they did anything about it.

The UK could always go it alone and pass our own legislation without an EU directive but they’d go through a full consultation process first and they haven’t even made noises about it being on the agenda.

Posted under Drivers' Hours, Vans

Bren (from Norflex) wrote:
Ive PM’d you Andrew.

Dont worry, I’m not trying to sell to you.

Unless I can charge consultancy fees?

 
Based on what you’ve written on here you’re worth fuck all as a consultant. You’re either very stupid or you’re making the assumption that everyone else on here is; which is it?

Capital allowances only apply during the time you own the van, once it’s disposed of then any further reduction in value is reclaimable against tax.

So in your scenario, if the van is worth £11,500 less at the time of disposal then that’s exactly what is claimable against taxable profits, less any capital allowances already claimed. Any interest payments are also fully tax-deductable.

Your ‘explanation’ of GRT is the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever read. You’re selling a flexible rental product, not lease or contract hire – how can you possibly seek to justify charging your users a vehicle’s on the road costs as an up-front one-off fee? The big selling point of your product is the flexibility to change from one vehicle to another. You’re saying that in order to keep this option open they have to pay you an extra £156 per year (60p/day) or pay the £50 fee up front? If they change vehicles after paying this £50 do subsequent users of the vehicle not get charged the 60p/day?

You come across as a typical salesman telling half truths in an effort to baffle your customers.

Posted under Vans

The prohibition from using the outside lane only applies to vehicles fitted with a speed limiter. Vehicles between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes used only in the UK and registered after 1st January 2005 don’t have to be fitted with a speed limiter until 1st January 2008.

Vehicles between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes registered before 1st October 2001 don’t have to be fitted with a speed limiter at all.
 

Posted under Legal Issues, Vans

They can take a company-owned van home without incurring any tax liability. They can even stop off on the way home to buy a pint of milk, or even take a load of rubbish to the tip once or twice a year and still pay nothing extra in tax. If they use the van for any other purpose then the employer has to report the use to HMCR and the employee has their tax code adjusted accordingly.

In a worst case scenario, assuming the employer waits until the end of this tax year to report the benefit to the Revenue, the employee’s tax allowance for 2008/09 could be reduced by £7,000 – costing the employee an extra £30/week in tax.

It’s up to the employer to prove to the Revenue that a van that’s taken home at night isn’t available for the employee’s private use.

Posted under Employment, Vans

That’s a mistake in LDV’s marketing literature James. They’ve copied the kerb weight of the chassis cab onto the specs for the luton without making any weight adjustment for the fitting of a body.
 

Posted under Vans

It doesn’t come in until October 2010 for vans and even then it will only be for vehicles that don’t meet Euro III standards. So unless you’re running vans over 8 years old there won’t be a problem. 

Posted under Tolls, Charges & Fines, Vans