English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 3 - 2016 | Page 24
GIANTS ON THE ROAD
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Anything above 72 tonnes falls under Category 3
PERMITTED WEIGHTS FOR VARIOUS VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS.
LA RÉPARTITION LONGITUDINALE
Number of axles
4x2
6x2
6x4
8x4
No other European country knows this regulation apart from France. If
the distance between three consecutive axles of a combination is more
than 2 metres, then those axles must not carry a load in kg that is more
than 6.5 times the distance in millimetres. For example : a 6x4 tractor
with 3,200 + 1,350 axle distances is allowed to carry a maximum weight
of (3,200 + 1,350) * 6.5 = 29.575 kg. If this rule is breached the transport
will be classed as a Cat. 3 transport, for which a different exemption and
escorting is required. The maximum gross weight of a combination with
exemption is calculated on the basis of the distance between the frontmost and rearmost axle and the distances between the other axles. An
example: a transport with 72 tonnes gross weight and more than 4 axles
and less than 13.5 tonnes load on the most heavily loaded axle will be allowed 5 tonnes/metre. The distance between the frontmost and rearmost
axle must in this case be at least 72/5 = 14.4 metres. A larger distance
between the other axles is favourable with regards to the calculation of
the maximum gross weight.
Legal (Code de la Route)
Up to 19 tonnes
24 up to 26 tonnes
Max 26 tonnes
Max 32 tonnes
With exemption/technical
Max. 19 tonnes too!
Max 27 tonnes (*)
Max 36 tonnes (*)
Max 44 tonnes (*)
(*) Provided that the technical load capacity allows it.
For semi-trailers with exemption the maximum load capacity is totally
dependent on the technical specification of the semi-trailer. For a tractor/semi-trailer without exemption the semi-trailer must never weigh
more than 1.5 x the permissible weight of the tractor.
CATEGORY 1, 2 AND 3
Based on length, width and total weight, abnormal transports are divided into three categories:
Length
Width
Gross weight
Cat. 1 Max 20 metres
Max 3 metres
Max 48 tonnes
Cat. 2 Max 25 metres
From 3 up to
From 48 up to
4 metres
72 tonnes
Cat. 3 More than 25 metres More than 4 metres More than 72 tonnes
INDIVISIBLE LOADS
Exemptions for abnormal transports are only issued for indivisible
loads. But of course there are exceptions. If a load is too long only – but
The simplest exemption is the Cat. 1 – National. On the Carte National
for transports in Category 1 all roads that can be used are indicated. A
diversion from these roads of no more than 20 kilometres is permitted
for loading/unloading purposes. When there is a check the driver must
be able to show the card and the exemption is valid for 60 months. For
Cat. 2 things get more complicated already. There are three kinds of Cat.
2: national, for one single ‘département’ or for one single, specific route.
For Cat. 2 there is a special card too. If the width is more than 3 metres
the transport must be escorted. The Cat. 2 exemption is valid from 12
up to 60 months and the maximum gross weight is 72 tonnes, provided
the technical specification of the vehicle allows it. Not all the French
‘départements’ have roads that are suitable for Cat. 2 transports. Cat. 3
exemption are only issued for specific routes.
With Répartition Longitudinale the gross weight is calculated
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