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Your Guide to Licence Categories for Trailers and HGVs

Posted: Friday, 11 November 2016

For professional fleet managers, it's not only important to keep track of the marks that your drivers have on their licences, but also which kinds of vehicles they are permitted to drive thanks to their individual level of experience behind the wheel.

In the United Kingdom, for any person to drive a particular form of vehicle - from a moped to a lorry, it is important that they must have an entitlement for that vehicle type on their driving licence.

There are various places that you can check with the UK government to determine which forms of vehicle licence apply to which codes, but for those who are responsible for trailers and heavy vehicles like HGVs we've put together a list of categories to be aware of.

Make sure to link each driver in your fleet to the correct category that they are permitted to drive based on the codes below, and remember that entitlements can come with additional restrictions.

Larger Vehicles (HGVs and Trailers)

The type of code you receive for an option to drive larger vehicles such as lorries and vans will depend on your ability as a driver. Your fleet may need to undergo additional lessons in order to upgrade their driving licence if you require them to drive something other than a car.

The most common categories for larger vehicles include:

  • Category C - which permits drivers to handle vehicles of over 3,500kg, with trailers that range up to 750kg
  • Category CE - which permits drivers to handle category C vehicles, with a trailer that ranges over 750kg
  • Category D1 - which permits drivers to handle vehicles such as minibuses, so long as these vehicles have a maximum measured length of 8 metres, a trailer of no more than 750kg, and no more than sixteen passenger seats on board - regardless of the number of actual passengers
  • Category D1E - which permits drivers to handle D1 category vehicles that have trailers that weigh more than 750kg. However, in this particular category, the fully-loaded trailer cannot be permitted to weigh any more than the vehicle itself. The complete MAM for both the vehicle and the additional trailer cannot be allowed to exceed 12,000kg
  • Category DE - which permits drivers to handle vehicles that are within the Category D distinction (buses with more than 8 passenger seats), which also include a trailer of over 750kg

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