The Road Vehicles (Authorisation of Special Types) (General) Order 2003

33.—(1) The total weight of—

(a) any Category 3 AILV carrying a load; or

(b) such of the vehicles comprised in a Category 3 AILV-combination as are carrying a load;

must be transmitted to the road through 6 or more axles.

(2) In sub-paragraphs (3) to (5) “load-bearing vehicle” means a vehicle mentioned in sub-paragraph (1)(a) or (b).

(3) The distance between any two adjacent axles of a load-bearing vehicle must not be less than 1 metre.

(4) Where the distance between two adjacent axles of a load-bearing vehicle is the distance specified in column 1 of Table 2, the axle weight must not exceed the weight specified in column 2 and the wheel weight must not exceed the weight specified in column 3.

Table 2

Category 3: axles and wheels

Distance between adjacent axles	Axle weight	Wheel weight
(Column 1)	(Column 2)	(Column 3)
Less than 1.35 metres	15,000 kilograms	7,500 kilograms
1.35 metres or more	16,500 kilograms	8,250 kilograms

(5) But where—

(a) a load-bearing vehicle has axles in two or more groups of axles;

(b) the distance between the adjacent axles in each group is less than 1.5 metres; and

(c) the distance between the adjacent axles in different groups is more than 1.5 metres;

the sum of the weights transmitted to the road surface by all the wheels in any group must not exceed the overall maximum weight.

(6) The overall maximum weight is—

(a) 90,000 kilograms if the distance specified in sub-paragraph (5)(b) is less than 1.35 metres; and

(b) 100,000 kilograms in any other case.