rules relating to the vehicle and how it is used
Naturally 'Mary' is road-legal in all respects, so what does this involve?
There are two main factors affecting the various legal obligations:
> Use for 'Hire or Reward' (H/R) - is the vehicle being operated professionally or commercially?
> The age of the vehicle.
'Hire or Reward'
For most purposes, it is pretty obvious what is meant by this term. The various concessions covered below when not operating for H/R do, however, allow the payment of expenses and this can be a grey area - particularly because the definition hasn't really been tested in the courts.
The cost of fuel is an obvious starting point and easy to calculate. However wear and tear is much more nebulous - there is no real depreciation on preserved vehicles as if they are maintained they usually hold or increase their value. So how can a contribution to that maintenance be calculated?
Many owners of 'heritage' or 'classic' vehicles consider themselves covered by signage to the effect that any contributions over and above the cost of fuel are regarded as unsolicited gifts or donations towards preservation or restoration.
On that basis, in my case tips are not discouraged!
Age of the vehicle
A bus or coach of any age used for H/R is subject to all the relevant rules. However vehicles over 25 years old are officially recognised as having a 'historic status' and may be exempt from certain rules.
Vehicles manufactured before 1st January 1973 are exempt from Tax but must show a nil-rate tax disc.
Vehicles manufactured before 1960 do not have to have an MoT but must of course be fit for use on public roads and no lesser offence is committed by using an unfit vehicle in this category than a younger one without an MoT.
Tax (Vehicle Excise Duty)
The full tax rate for a bus or coach with 52 seats is £330 but if not used for H/R it effectively becomes a large private car for which the rate is £165. Mary's V5 states that she is a single deck bus/coach so I had to tax her at the higher rate initially. The procedure to change the tax class involves a personal visit to an office in Peterborough and a lot of paperwork, a process that as yet I haven't considered worthwhile!
MoT or 'annual test'
Private buses or coaches such as Mary require a Class 5 MoT, which is administratively the same as a car MoT. Passenger Carrying Vehicles for commercial (H/R) use are tested to a different (although clearly parallel) set of standards which is strictly speaking called the 'annual test for PCVs', but is commonly if incorrectly referred to as Class 6. This is administered by VOSA, the Vehicle Operating and Standards Agency.
One of the problems associated with this distinction is that much of the equipment needed for both is the same and some of it is unique to buses and coaches. So while a conventional MoT test centre with the appropriate equipment (and examiners) may carry out a Class 5 test, for the PCV annual test either the vehicle must be taken to a VOSA testing centre or VOSA officials have to carry out the test at a conventional centre. There is a move to reduce the number of VOSA (i.e. government)-operated centres and until the market sorts out supply and demand (if it ever does), this is causing major problems for commercial operators booking their fleets for testing, let alone privateers like me trying to find isolated appointments.
A friend of mine with a preserved coach also in the Cambridge area had to take it to North Norfolk for testing recently, which took him a good half-a-day and will have cost around £100 in diesel alone.
The process that got Mary her first MoT since 2007 was, in my view, utterly unsatisfactory and left me with a vehicle that was far from roadworthy until I spent several thousand pounds getting further professional attention. It is a broken system that allows a ten-tonne-plus coach to be driven in that condition by someone with only a car licence (see elsewhere on this site) even if, in this case, my personal standards would not allow this situation to continue.
Nevertheless, on the initial assumption that I had been handed back a roadworthy vehicle with its new MoT, I took three adults and five young children quite legally (on paper, at least) on a 180-mile round trip in a vehicle that needed serious attention to tyres, wheels, brakes, suspension and steering.
Details of this part of the saga will be published in 'The Full Story' at http://lft5x.weebly.com/the-full-story.html in due course.
Seat Belts
See http://lft5x.weebly.com/passengers.html
Insurance
Readers new to this game may be amazed that fully comprehensive insurance for Mary, including all passengers boarding, in transit and alighting, is just £100 plus tax per year, with an additional £80-odd for breakdown cover - but of course not for Hire or Reward! There are two companies apparently competing for this market and I can only surmise that the low mileages covered by the vehicles and the general level of care inevitably taken by proud owners means the level of claims is low.
Nevertheless, with an estimated 4,500 preserved buses and coaches in the UK (some of which will have H/R insurance), it's a market worth less than half-a-million pounds.
Operator's Licence
A vehicle needs an Operator's Licence for H/R so this is needed to get full H/R insurance and vice versa. Similarly the higher 'Class 6' annual test would be needed so taking the multiple steps to H/R operation is a significant commitment. Current estimates to get the full package is £6,000 plus £3,000 a year thereafter and of course the higher costs of maintaining a vehicle to Class 6 standards.
Nevertheless I am aware of one preservationist who has taken the plunge in his 1970's AEC/Plaxton and has used an insurance concession to get H/R on fifteen occasions a year (only) at £35 a day to make a sensible profit on weddings and days out to golf and racing events. Clearly such profit only really mitigates the huge original restoration costs and time commitment from someone who works full-time to pay for this glorified hobby in the first place!
Tachograph
The driver of a vehicle that is out of the scope of EU driver hours recording rules does not have to use a tachograph, even if fitted. A UK bus or coach over 25 years old and not operated for H/R is outside the scope.
However there is some ambiguity as to whether UK domestic hours might still apply on certain occasions regardless of the tachograph requirement (or not). The domestic rules are aimed at service buses, drivers of which can essentially 'turn the wheel' for ten hours a day with minimal breaks so this is unlikely to be an issue for preservationists. However a recent trip involved being out for a total of twelve hours and, whilst only about six were spent driving, whether or not I was 'resting' during the main part of the day is debateable - it was a rally involving almost constant talking and interaction with visitors plus some rides around the site.
I does concern me that there is the potential for preservationists to get involved in long days with no real rest, perhaps driving sleeping passengers back in the dusk or darkness and succumbing to sleep. I believe that some rallies at least ought to provide visitor-free rest facilities for drivers.
An awful lot of regulation goes on in the bus and coach industry. For the most part, I support it but there are some areas where loopholes could allow a legal disaster to take place.
There are two main factors affecting the various legal obligations:
> Use for 'Hire or Reward' (H/R) - is the vehicle being operated professionally or commercially?
> The age of the vehicle.
'Hire or Reward'
For most purposes, it is pretty obvious what is meant by this term. The various concessions covered below when not operating for H/R do, however, allow the payment of expenses and this can be a grey area - particularly because the definition hasn't really been tested in the courts.
The cost of fuel is an obvious starting point and easy to calculate. However wear and tear is much more nebulous - there is no real depreciation on preserved vehicles as if they are maintained they usually hold or increase their value. So how can a contribution to that maintenance be calculated?
Many owners of 'heritage' or 'classic' vehicles consider themselves covered by signage to the effect that any contributions over and above the cost of fuel are regarded as unsolicited gifts or donations towards preservation or restoration.
On that basis, in my case tips are not discouraged!
Age of the vehicle
A bus or coach of any age used for H/R is subject to all the relevant rules. However vehicles over 25 years old are officially recognised as having a 'historic status' and may be exempt from certain rules.
Vehicles manufactured before 1st January 1973 are exempt from Tax but must show a nil-rate tax disc.
Vehicles manufactured before 1960 do not have to have an MoT but must of course be fit for use on public roads and no lesser offence is committed by using an unfit vehicle in this category than a younger one without an MoT.
Tax (Vehicle Excise Duty)
The full tax rate for a bus or coach with 52 seats is £330 but if not used for H/R it effectively becomes a large private car for which the rate is £165. Mary's V5 states that she is a single deck bus/coach so I had to tax her at the higher rate initially. The procedure to change the tax class involves a personal visit to an office in Peterborough and a lot of paperwork, a process that as yet I haven't considered worthwhile!
MoT or 'annual test'
Private buses or coaches such as Mary require a Class 5 MoT, which is administratively the same as a car MoT. Passenger Carrying Vehicles for commercial (H/R) use are tested to a different (although clearly parallel) set of standards which is strictly speaking called the 'annual test for PCVs', but is commonly if incorrectly referred to as Class 6. This is administered by VOSA, the Vehicle Operating and Standards Agency.
One of the problems associated with this distinction is that much of the equipment needed for both is the same and some of it is unique to buses and coaches. So while a conventional MoT test centre with the appropriate equipment (and examiners) may carry out a Class 5 test, for the PCV annual test either the vehicle must be taken to a VOSA testing centre or VOSA officials have to carry out the test at a conventional centre. There is a move to reduce the number of VOSA (i.e. government)-operated centres and until the market sorts out supply and demand (if it ever does), this is causing major problems for commercial operators booking their fleets for testing, let alone privateers like me trying to find isolated appointments.
A friend of mine with a preserved coach also in the Cambridge area had to take it to North Norfolk for testing recently, which took him a good half-a-day and will have cost around £100 in diesel alone.
The process that got Mary her first MoT since 2007 was, in my view, utterly unsatisfactory and left me with a vehicle that was far from roadworthy until I spent several thousand pounds getting further professional attention. It is a broken system that allows a ten-tonne-plus coach to be driven in that condition by someone with only a car licence (see elsewhere on this site) even if, in this case, my personal standards would not allow this situation to continue.
Nevertheless, on the initial assumption that I had been handed back a roadworthy vehicle with its new MoT, I took three adults and five young children quite legally (on paper, at least) on a 180-mile round trip in a vehicle that needed serious attention to tyres, wheels, brakes, suspension and steering.
Details of this part of the saga will be published in 'The Full Story' at http://lft5x.weebly.com/the-full-story.html in due course.
Seat Belts
See http://lft5x.weebly.com/passengers.html
Insurance
Readers new to this game may be amazed that fully comprehensive insurance for Mary, including all passengers boarding, in transit and alighting, is just £100 plus tax per year, with an additional £80-odd for breakdown cover - but of course not for Hire or Reward! There are two companies apparently competing for this market and I can only surmise that the low mileages covered by the vehicles and the general level of care inevitably taken by proud owners means the level of claims is low.
Nevertheless, with an estimated 4,500 preserved buses and coaches in the UK (some of which will have H/R insurance), it's a market worth less than half-a-million pounds.
Operator's Licence
A vehicle needs an Operator's Licence for H/R so this is needed to get full H/R insurance and vice versa. Similarly the higher 'Class 6' annual test would be needed so taking the multiple steps to H/R operation is a significant commitment. Current estimates to get the full package is £6,000 plus £3,000 a year thereafter and of course the higher costs of maintaining a vehicle to Class 6 standards.
Nevertheless I am aware of one preservationist who has taken the plunge in his 1970's AEC/Plaxton and has used an insurance concession to get H/R on fifteen occasions a year (only) at £35 a day to make a sensible profit on weddings and days out to golf and racing events. Clearly such profit only really mitigates the huge original restoration costs and time commitment from someone who works full-time to pay for this glorified hobby in the first place!
Tachograph
The driver of a vehicle that is out of the scope of EU driver hours recording rules does not have to use a tachograph, even if fitted. A UK bus or coach over 25 years old and not operated for H/R is outside the scope.
However there is some ambiguity as to whether UK domestic hours might still apply on certain occasions regardless of the tachograph requirement (or not). The domestic rules are aimed at service buses, drivers of which can essentially 'turn the wheel' for ten hours a day with minimal breaks so this is unlikely to be an issue for preservationists. However a recent trip involved being out for a total of twelve hours and, whilst only about six were spent driving, whether or not I was 'resting' during the main part of the day is debateable - it was a rally involving almost constant talking and interaction with visitors plus some rides around the site.
I does concern me that there is the potential for preservationists to get involved in long days with no real rest, perhaps driving sleeping passengers back in the dusk or darkness and succumbing to sleep. I believe that some rallies at least ought to provide visitor-free rest facilities for drivers.
An awful lot of regulation goes on in the bus and coach industry. For the most part, I support it but there are some areas where loopholes could allow a legal disaster to take place.