Can you drive a Robur with a regular driver's license?
We often hear the question, “Can you drive that with a regular driver’s license?” when we show up with our Robur fire truck at a classic car meet. We’re shedding some light on this: How to declassify a Robur - or any other vehicle - is what you’ll learn in this article.
To the initial question, the answer can only be: Yes, of course, because first of all, every driver's license is normal, including the truck classes C1 and so on. However, we are obviously referring to class B here. While anyone who completed the old driver's license class 3 doesn't have to worry, class B holders need to pay closer attention.
The East German vehicles built by VEB Roburwerke have relatively high empty weights - or better expressed, empty masses - which complicates matters. If you look at the vehicle papers for fire trucks, you often find very high empty masses, for example, 4550kg. Just that would already be a disqualifying criterion for class B.
However, back then, the empty weights were measured including the complete heavy fire-fighting equipment, so the chassis should actually weigh less. If you research the empty weights of civilian variants, you come across the figure of 2725kg for a flatbed truck, among others. So our fire truck was also weighed. Public scales can often be found at waste disposal companies - and that's where we found one. The fire-fighting equipment had long been removed, but we still had a partially completed motorhome conversion on the loading area. The first result was still too heavy, but once we removed everything, the value should fit, and we returned to the scale, this time together with the testing engineer. Because the prerequisite for a successful declassification is that the vehicle is inspected by an engineer from an accredited testing organization.
The weighing certificate proves that with 2910kg, the empty weight is sufficiently low to declassify the East German vehicle to 3.5 tons. Based on the weighing certificate, the testing engineer prepared his report, and then we went to the vehicle registration office, where the changes were also made in the papers. When declassifying, it is actually important that a reasonable payload remains for the vehicle. The registered empty mass in the vehicle registration already considers a driver at 75kg and 90% of the tank. For each additional passenger, at least 75kg should still remain, and for a loading area, a little more as well. For a truck registration, this is referred to as 20%. However, since our fire truck is a historic vehicle that is not used for transporting goods, a lower vehicle weight can also be registered even if only a small payload is possible.
All steps at a glance:
1. Check empty mass: Do the figures in the vehicle registration match, or is the vehicle actually lighter? If the figures are correct and there is still enough room for passengers and payload, then it can go directly to the inspection, and the whole thing is just a formality. Otherwise, it gets more complicated.
2. Contact inspection organization: It's best to discuss your concerns with a testing engineer beforehand. Keep in mind that not every inspector can perform declassifications.
3. Weighing: Drive the vehicle to a calibrated scale and have the actual empty mass confirmed with a weighing certificate. If necessary, you can do this as an on-site appointment with the inspector if they want to be present. A suitable scale can be found, for example, at the next recycling center or scrap yard.
4. Have a report prepared: The inspector prepares a short certificate based on the documentation or with the help of the weighing certificate.
5. Register: With this certificate and the vehicle papers, you then go to the registration office. Here, the new data is now entered into the vehicle registration.
Important: Only now is the vehicle actually declassified and can be driven with a class B driver's license. Right after the inspection, this is not yet the case.
But then it must be over at the latest with a trailer, right?
No, that is actually possible too. While you generally need the driver's license class BE (or the additional 96 to class B) to tow trailers that weigh more than 3.5 tons, there is a small exception here. If you look at the regulation on the admission of persons to road traffic (Driver's License Regulation - FeV), it states in paragraph 6, section 1:
Class B: Motor vehicles – excluding motor vehicles of classes AM, A1, A2, and A – with a permissible total mass of no more than 3,500 kg, designed and built for the transport of no more than eight persons excluding the driver (also with a trailer with a permissible total mass of no more than 750 kg or with a trailer over 750 kg permissible total mass, provided that the permissible total mass of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg).
This means that behind any towing vehicle that corresponds to class B, you are still allowed to tow a trailer with a maximum permissible total weight of 750kg without needing a higher class. However, it is a prerequisite that the vehicle has a permissible towing capacity registered in the registration certificate. With a Robur, the limit is reached at 3.5 tons permissible total weight. A trailer with up to 750kg is still not a problem and then forms the heaviest combination that can be towed with a class B driver's license.
