Medium-duty trucks: transportation of medium-heavy cargo

Medium-heavy cargo includes cargo whose dimensions are quite small for large lifting vehicles, but at the same time, they cannot fit into small Gazelle-type vehicles. Medium-tonnage trucks are used to transport them.

The carrying capacity of such trucks meets all the stated conditions, that is, they are suitable for transporting medium-sized cargo. It would be more correct to say that medium-tonnage trucks can transport cargo weighing approximately 5 tons. At the same time, the maximum total weight of the vehicle and cargo should be no more than 10 tons. Only if these conditions are met can a truck be considered medium-duty.

Legislation and general provisions

Heavy vehicles place a serious burden on the road surface. To minimize its damage and ensure road safety, restrictions on the maximum weight of a truck were developed and liability was introduced for violating them.

In the Russian Federation, these standards are given in Federal Law No. 257 and Government Decree No. 272. The State Traffic Inspectorate is responsible for monitoring compliance with the standards.

Truck drivers should pay attention to the following points:

• The rules apply exclusively on public roads of territorial or federal significance.
• Overloaded vehicles should only be driven on special roads.
• If the roadway is not able to withstand the load established by law, its owner has the right to set his own restrictions.
• Before reducing the maximum permissible vehicle weight restrictions, a survey of the condition of the road surface must be carried out.
• On highways with restrictions for heavy vehicles, road signs should be installed to warn drivers about this.
• Axle load standards depend on the vehicle operating instructions.

Do foreign carriers need a night pass?

We understand where this question came from. At one time, indeed, the Moscow authorities wanted to make concessions for foreign carriers, allowing them free movement around Moscow at night. However, after the possibility of obtaining a pass was also provided for them, the need for this kind of relaxation simply disappeared.

Thus, vehicles registered in foreign countries also need a night pass to enter the Moscow Ring Road from 23.00 to 7.00 . In the same way, you can get a day pass (from 7.00 to 23.00). In addition, foreigners can receive both a one-time pass and a pass valid for up to a year .

The only thing, there is one “but”: since the pass is issued through the government services portal, foreign carriers cannot submit an application on their own - only through authorized persons who are residents of the Russian Federation.

Maximum dimensions of cargo vehicles

The maximum permitted parameters for heavy-duty transport are established in the agreement of the CIS countries. According to him:

Correct load distribution

• The length of a car, trailer and bus should not exceed 12 m; for an articulated bus this parameter is 18 m, and for a road train - 20 m. Lifting platforms, steps, windshield wipers, and mirrors are not taken into account when calculating the length.
• The width of any vehicle is less than 2.55 m. This does not include lighting fixtures, stairs and steps, platforms, mirrors, tire pressure indicators.
• The permitted height is 4 m, including the body or container.

Do I need a pass for special vehicles?

Yes, special vehicles (truck cranes, aerial platforms, concrete pumps, mobile repair shops, mobile laboratories, compressors, etc.) also require a pass . Only in this case, to complete it, it is necessary to present not a contract for the carriage of goods, but a contract for the performance of work , which must indicate information about the daily work carried out using this vehicle.

At the same time, both one-time passes and passes valid for up to a year are available to special vehicles.

Maximum permissible weight for cargo transport

The maximum weight of a truck is otherwise called the gross weight and is the sum of the weight of the truck itself and the cargo.

All heavy vehicles are divided into three categories:

• small-tonnage;
• medium-tonnage;
• large-capacity.

The light-duty class includes small trucks, including the Gazelle, in which the cab and body are located on the same supporting frame. They are used, as a rule, in trade to transport small goods over relatively short distances. The weight of such trucks is no more than 3.5 tons, and the load capacity, depending on the model, is from 0.5 to 2.5 tons.

The medium-duty category includes classic KAMAZ trucks and a number of foreign brands. These vehicles weigh up to 12 tons and can carry cargo weighing up to 8 tons.

Heavy duty trucks weigh more than 12 tons and are used to transport very heavy and bulky goods. They are often included in fifth-wheel and trailed road trains.

In addition to the maximum permissible weight of the transported cargo, another parameter is important for checking for overload - axial load. Since the design of the vehicles includes a cargo compartment at the rear, the main weight of the cargo falls on the rear axle.

The permissible weight of heavy vehicles is given in Appendix 1, and the permitted axle loads are given in Appendix 2 to Government Decree No. 272. For example, according to this Appendix, a semi-trailer train with five axles can weigh no more than 40 tons, and a three-axle vehicle can weigh no more than 24 tons.

To drive a vehicle with a gross weight of more than 44 tons, you need to obtain a special permit, which indicates the route, departure and arrival times. For a car weighing 80 tons including cargo, the route is drawn up by traffic inspectors.

General table of truck load capacity

Let's not bog you down - here is a table of the trucks' carrying capacity and their capacity. In the first column you will also find examples of models that belong to each category.

How to determine the carrying capacity of a particular truck? To do this, you need to get the vehicle vehicle and compare the unloaded weight (point 14) and the maximum permitted weight (point 15). We subtract the second from the first indicator and get the mass (together with the weight of the driver and passengers) that this car can transport.

By the way, the driver’s weight is now calculated according to the European standard - 75 kilograms. True, in practice it is usually ignored as a small (compared to the main load) error.

Responsibility for overload

To avoid a fine for overloading an axle, you can use a special permit.
To avoid paying a fine for overload, you need to calculate the total weight of the car and the axle load. These two quantities are related by the following relationship: the total mass is equal to the sum of the loads on each of the axles. Moreover, in a two-axle car, the load on the front axle is three times less than on the rear. For trailers, it is distributed evenly on each axle. The obtained values ​​must be compared with the table from Appendix 2 to Government Decree No. 272.

According to Federal Law, overload can be no more than 2% of the permissible value.

In case of overload, administrative liability is imposed on the culprit in accordance with Article 12.21.1 of the Administrative Code. Individual entrepreneurs bear the same responsibility as legal entities.

Fines for exceeding the permissible weight of a truck are imposed on the driver, the official responsible for transportation, the legal entity and the owner of the vehicle. In case of overload of more than 50%, the driver is deprived of his license for up to 6 months.

In addition to overload, fines are imposed in the following cases:

• deviations from the route sheet;
• providing false information about the weight of the cargo;
• lack of permission to transport large cargo;
• Exceeding the standard dimensions of the vehicle by 10 cm.

Video on the topic: Permitted maximum weight - general provisions of traffic rules

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Is it possible to get a pass for six months?

Yes, you can. It’s not for nothing that the name of the service says “issuance of passes... for up to a year.” That is: a year is the maximum period (and in fact, taking into account the consideration time, it turns out to be less) that cannot be exceeded. But it is not prohibited to indicate a period of less than a year .

especially true if the driver’s license is due to expire within a year . Because if you indicate the validity period of the pass not until the expiration of the driver’s license, but longer, then the issuance of the pass will be refused.