Postal Letter

Is it lawful to park a commercial vehicle in a residential road that has no yellow lines or paying metres?

Residents on our road park on the side of the road. There are no restrictions. However recently, a owner of commercial vehicles ( lorries and delivery vans) is using our road parking depriving the residents of parking spaces. This is very annoying but is it illegal and can we do something about it?

Public Comments

1. ask the cops
2. Use of a residential road for commercial purposes is liable to restrictions. Contact your local council.
3. if they live there, ok, some places, if not, no. our area illigal, on streets, unless spesified.
4. Well it depends on local bylaws, but as long as the vehicle is taxed and has an MOT, it is quite legal,(sorry) but tough.
5. If parking is permitted and there is no weight limit or truck restriction regulating that street, than the cmv's are allowed.
6. Agree with others contact local authority. But if the company has operator's licence for commercial vehicles and residents complain it is possible for the local authority to place restrictions on parking, times of parking etc etc. But will only have to have an operators licence if has more than seven vehicles. Also may be able to look at it through environmental health etc i.e. making it difficult for children to play and access their own environment... But local authority is best bet...give them a ring...good luck.
7. If you are in the UK & Ireland, any commercial vehicle must be parked on the correct side of the road it travels on. Also any vehicle of 7.5 tonnes and above - including any "artic" trailers must have their parking lights on - red to rear. If you were to park an un-coupled caravan on the road, you would soon get a visit from the plod! If the owner parks their vehicles on a regular basis you have a reason to contact either your local council or the area office of the traffic commissioners, who set operating restrictions on all transport firms - they may be contravening these restrictions. As a first line of communication I suggest you contact the transport company directly, either in person(s) or by letter putting forward your concerns- noise, loss of amenity danger to other road users when overtaking If this fails, contact your local police who have the power to ticket any illegally parked vehicles, they will soon get the message!
8. Operators licences are required for commercial vehicles with a plated weight of 3.5tonnes or an unladen weight of 1.5tonnes. To gain a licence an operator has to provide details of where their vehicles will be parked, this is the operating centre. Contrary to what has been said there is no lower limit on the number of vehicles operated. Whether it is one or one thousand you need a licence. This person is clearly abusing their licence and you have two courses of action. The first is to contact your local highway authority. Depending where you live this could be your local council or the county council. They will have a dedicated officer who deals with operator licences and infringements. The second course is to write to the Traffic Commissioners for your area, enclose either photos showing registration numbers or written details with dates and times. The commissioner is responsible for issuing licences and has the power to enforce and ultimately revoke them. They are part of VOSA and if you go into 'Yahoo search' with either Traffic Commissioner or VOSA you will get addresses. Do not be fobbed off by either the council or the commissioner because they have a duty to act. Be persistent and polite. You could involve the police but they tend to ticket everyone in these situations.