Best form of hireable transportation for materials pickup?

A transit based pickup. Might be hard to find, so go for a ply lined LWB transit. Lutons generally have weak sides and lower payload capacity (i.e. they have the same 3500kg MAM, but are heavier than the standard van when unladen, leaving less carrying ability). Whilst >3500kg Lutons are available, you said no HGV. You need a special licence (C1 category, which you may or may not have).

Remember to consider the weight of materials. It doesn't take many slates to reach a tonne, and much over that and you'll be illegal, which is a very serious offence, particularly in a commercial vehicle.

If you're transporting heavy, rather than bulky materials. (i.e. you've got slates/rocks etc rather than insulation boards to shift), then the smallest

Christian.

Thanks a lot Christian. That didn't leave much to the imagination. I know exactly what I'm looking for now.

wot e said plus - hire a 7.5t flatbed dropside and contact a 'driver hire' type agency for a day rate for a qualified driver to drive it. quite a few multidrop drivers do *well* over a dozen drops/pickups in an average day.

RT

Personally, I'd drive it myself. I love driving 7.5 tonners. I usually only get the chance when moving house. But then, I do have C1 on my licence.

My favourite was a LWB crew cab Merc 312 box taillift with the most atrociously snatchy hissy air brakes. It had a digital braking system with two modes.

Mode A: < 5 mph - brake pedal allows either no braking or complete lock up. Mode B: > 5 mph - brake pedal acts as a convenient foot rest.

Note that all the

Very good point. Might as well think as big as necessary. :)

In article , Christian McArdle writes

You should have C1 if you passed your test before about 1995 (can't remember the exact date when it was removed from the "standard" vehicles)

The problem with 7.5 tonne vehicles is you have to be careful about not overloading them, it isn't as easy to tell as with the smaller vehicles.

:o)

aye, but it's not about you, it's about the OP without the correct licence.

RT

Maybe but the enthusiasm and useful info more than made up for the character shift. :)

It depends on how long you've had your licence. There is a cut off date for driving up to IIRC 7.5 tonne vehicles without an HGV.

How do you know the OP hasn't got the correct licence? It used to be standard with car licence

My licence goes way back before 1995 but I'm such a crap driver that I'll find any excuse to have someone else drive.

just a guess:

"Hiring a HGV vehicle is out of the question for self-drive"

RT

Many years ago (at least 12!) my dad hired a 7.5tonner from the local hire place, for me to go to Ipswich docks and pick up a load of timber for him (he runs a joinery company). I duly went up to their yard, at a local farm, and found the truck, which was a very nice Mercedes, only a year or two old. I filled in the tacho and trundled the 30 miles or so up to Ipswich, marvelling at the exhaust brake and other gadgets, and got there just as the dockers were starting their lunch. With nothing else to do for an hour, I sat in the cab and started reading through the booklets that were in the truck. I flipped through the specifications for the truck, and saw that the axles were rated something along the lines of 8t on the front, and 15t on the rear. My first thought was 'That's high for a 7.5tonner', closely followed by 'Oh s**t!'

Never have I driven so smoothly and carefully as I did on the trip back...

The statement is vague.

It could mean at least 3 things:

1. I don't have licence to drive a 7.5 Tonner
2. The OP might not realise that if you got your car licence long enough ago then you are licensed to drive them.
3. The OP doesn't want to drive one anyway, even if is allowed to.

no it's not. self drive is out of the question - he doesn't want to, the reason why are a matter for him and pedants like you

RT

It was.

Indeed.

correct. Which is not the same as not having licence as you said.

and yourself it would seem :-)

Being more pedantic, is a 7.5 tonner an HGV? After all, there is such a thing as an HGV licence...

In article , Gary Cavie writes

It was probably right, 7.5tonne vehicles are usually rated for much higher loads than that, just you can't drive them loaded over 7.5 tonne gross weight without HGV licence. (The Iveco vehicles are really 12 tonne).

that's your third post in this thread, none of which are directed at the OP or offer a solution to thier question, that's trolling exemplified, well done.

RT