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Frequently Asked Questions

Please click one of our frequently asked questions and view the answer below

  • Why would anyone wish to re-rate a vehicle?
  • If a vehicle is designed to operate at a given weight, how can it be adapted to operate a higher or a lower weight?
  • Want to Uprate your vehicle?

    • If a vehicle is designed to operate at a given weight, how can it be adapted to operate a higher or a lower weight?

    Dealing with the easy ones first:

  • Articulated vehicles may be downplated simply by making a declaration that you wish to operate at a lower weight. The declaration is made of a notifiable alteration to the vehicle's plated trim weight and entails the completion of a DTp form, VTG10 together with a payment of a fee and the submission of this form and the fee to the Goods Vehicle Centre at Swansea.

    Some Goods Vehicle Testing Stations may be prepared to process the paperwork, some may not. You will receive a revised plating certificate by post. No alterations are made to the gross vehicle weight nor to the axle weights. Presentation of the revised plating certificates to a vehicle registration office and settlement of the appropriate duty completes the exercise.

  • Most operators feel competent to make all the arrangements themselves but if you feel hesitant about form filling and dealing with the ministry, we will be able to do it all for you. Naturally, there is a small fee but then you would not expect a service for nothing, would you?

  • Uprating of articulated vehicles may require physical changes being made to the vehicle and as this varies from vehicle to vehicle, you will probably need some help. Fear not, we are able to provide all the help and the parts you need to affect the uprate. Contact us on 01772 621800.

    Rigid vehicles above 12000kg gross vehicle weight, may be downplated in a similar manner. Choose your weight, complete the VTG10 requesting downplating, send off to the Goods Vehicle Centre with the fee and you will presently receive a revised plating certificate showing a GVW reduction but no alterations to axle weights. Again, we would be pleased to perform this service for you, if desired.

  • As is the case of artics, presentation of the revised plating certificate to a vehicle registration office and the settlement of the appropriate duty completes the exercise.

    Rigid vehicles of GVW 12000kg and under are not usually downplated for the purpose of reducing the excise duty. This class of vehicle is capable of being downplated to 7500kg, thus taking it out of the HGV class for driver licensing purposes. There are in addition certain vehicles which can be down-rated from 13000kg to 7500kg.

    In order to down-rate to 7500kg, physical changes must be made to the vehicle in order to reduce the design weight ( Note that here we have to reduce the design weight, whereas artics and heavier rigids are down-rated by reducing the plated weight ).

    There are numerous ways in which the design weight may be reduced but modifications to suspension and braking are the most common.

    Our specialist service covers almost every vehicle model, from every manufacturer, produced during the past twenty years.

    Customisation of the conversion kit supplied by us is achieved by calculation from suspension and brake data supplied in most instances by the vehicle manufacturer direct to us and is dependant upon the individual characteristics of the particular model.

    Rigid Vehicle of 7500kg often require down-rating in order to draw a trailer and still remain under the non-HGV gross train weight limit of 8250kg. This is a little specialised but our staff are well able to engineer a specification to suit your particular requirements.

    Rigid Vehicles around 5000kg to 5600kg are frequently down-rated to 3500kg, thus taking them outside the scope of plating and testing all together. This also does away with legal requirements for an operator's license and the tachograph.

    We have conversion kits available for all popular models. Just call us and we will do the rest.

    What we need from you - for all applications -
    • Your company name, address and postal code.
    • a contact name, and telephone number
    • the weight at which you wish to operate the vehicle
    • a photocopy of the vehicle's plating certificate. If this is the one out of the cab we also need the tyre sizes
    • the name of your preferred goods vehicle testing station
    • unladen weight ticket
    Our Service Is - Cost Effective, Acceptable to the Vehicle Inspectorate, Recognised by Vehicle Manufacturers, and Efficient

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