Vehicle Classes and What a Class 3 Licence Allows You to Drive
What this domain tests
This domain tests the weight-based definitions. Nearly every question reduces to one skill: working out a vehicle's gross laden mass (GLM) and matching it to the correct licence class.
The three weights
- Tare: the unladen weight of the vehicle with fuel and fluids.
- GVM: the manufacturer's maximum permitted weight for the vehicle itself.
- GLM (gross laden mass): the maximum combined weight of vehicle, load, passengers and fuel. Licence classes and road user charges are built on this figure, not on tare.
What Class 3 covers
- Rigid vehicles with a GLM from 6,001 kg to 25,000 kg.
- Combination vehicles (truck plus trailer) with a combined GLM up to 25,000 kg.
- Everything a Class 1 and Class 2 licence covers - the classes are cumulative.
- Not covered: a rigid vehicle over 25,000 kg (Class 4) or a combination over 25,000 kg (Class 5).
Class is about weight, not work
A Class 3 licence says nothing about what you carry. Carrying passengers for hire needs a P endorsement; dangerous goods need a D endorsement; forklifts need an F endorsement; vehicle recovery needs a V endorsement.
Worked example
A rigid tipper has a tare of 11,200 kg and a 12,000 kg payload: GLM = 23,200 kg, so Class 3 is enough. Hitch a 4,000 kg trailer and the combination GLM becomes 27,200 kg - over the 25,000 kg ceiling, so a Class 5 licence is required. Note that the truck itself has not changed; only the combination weight has, and that is what moves the required class.
Traps that cost marks
- Using tare weight instead of GLM when deciding which class applies.
- Assuming Class 3 lets you tow a trailer of any weight.
- Believing Class 3 covers a 26,000 kg rigid truck.
- Confusing endorsements with licence classes.