The use of Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles (AFV) is on the increase and as they cascade onto the used vehicle market they are being bought by those operations that have not had previous experience of them.
A S Miles Consulting are getting an increase in the number of questions of what is and isn’t allowed within the regulations, especially in relation to the use of Tachographs from new and existing users.
Under a National only Derogation an AFV can be driven on a UK Category B (not in NI) driving licence so long as:
- The vehicle is only used within a 100km radius of the base.
- The driver undergoes 5 hours of approved training by a qualified and competent person (Note that it is proposed to remove this requirement but at the time of writing (27/05/2025) this has not been removed).
In these circumstances the driver can hold a Cat B Driving Licence.
It is also worth noting that if this distance is to be exceeded then the driver must hold at least a Cat C1 driving licence and hold Driver CPC, recording their hours in line with AETR regulations.
However, if a driver who does hold a Cat C1, C or CE driving licence was to drive the AFV within the derogation the following applies.
1. If the vehicle is always used for the carriage of goods within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking and propelled by means of natural or liquefied gas or electricity, the maximum permissible mass of which, including the mass of a trailer or semi-trailer, does not exceed 7.5 tonnes then its use will fall into GB domestic and the tachograph does not need to be used.
When the vehicles are in use by Cat B drivers it is recommended, but not legally required, that ‘out of scope’ is selected on the tachograph when used without a card inserted.
On the occasions where Cat C drivers are assigned to the vehicles, best practice is for their cards to be inserted, and “Out of Scope” selected as driving these vehicles counts as “Other Work” but not towards AETR driving time.
2. In relation to the downloading of the vehicle unit – “the requirement to download the tachograph comes from article 10(5) of the assimilated drivers’ hours rules and only relates to those vehicles that in scope of the assimilated rules, so if a vehicle is never used in scope of the regulations there is no legal requirement to download the VU”.
As best practice, an operator using this type of vehicle in this way may want to periodically download the vehicle unit to use the data as a reliable source to monitor compliance with GB Domestic rules – again there is no legal requirement.
If you would like any review of your operation and how it complies with these regulations, then please call us on 01455 389053 or email info@asmilesconsulting.com