The idea of crossing the channel to buy a load of cheap wine and beer does not seem as popular as it used too, but it is still done and can still make good sense, especially if you live close enough to Dover for an easy day trip and would like to buy a reasonable amount of wine.

You may be able to manage with a large car, but if you want to buy a reasonable amount – for a large wedding, party or family occasion – you may find that a car is not up to the job of carrying that much weight and you need to hire a van.

We have produced a ‘Booze Cruise Van Rental Guide‘ that covers all the things you need to know if you are planning a big wine or tobacco shopping trip. Here are our top tips:

• Try to limit the maximum number of people to three – most vans seat three. Restricting your party to three people will leave plenty of payload free for wine and beer supplies – bottled drinks are surprisingly heavy.
• A bottle of wine weighs around 1.2kg – so a box of 6 weighs about 7.5kg. Champagne and sparkling wine bottles weigh much more because the glass is thicker. If three of you are buying a lot, you may end up exceeding the maximum weight for your van.
• Dover-Calais by ferry (90 minutes) is usually the cheapest way to cross the channel and there are lots of big supermarkets and wine warehouses near Calais (e.g. Pidou, although the (in)famous Eastenders has now closed)
• Eurotunnel (Folkestone-Calais) is quicker, taking just 35 minutes – and Folkestone is slightly quicker to get to for most people
• Remember that although there are theoretically no limits to how much alcohol or tobacco you can import from another EU country, customs will take an interest if you have a really huge amount. The current guidelines are:

• 3,200 cigarettes
• 200 cigars
• 400 cigarillos
• 3kg of tobacco
• 110 litres of beer
• 90 litres of wine
• 10 litres of spirits
• 20 litres of fortified wine (for example port or sherry)

Boozes cruises can still pay, although in reality the savings are not as big as they used to be five or ten years ago. The key is efficient planning and clubbing together – three people, three sets of purchases and one hire van can make the whole day seem very cheap!

Remember that not all van hire companies let you take vans abroad  – and it needs to be arranged in advance. Click here for our European van hire guide.

If you and some friends are heading down to Cornwall (or any of the other good surfing areas in the UK) to do some surfing, you may find that your normal wheels are not quite up to the job.

Either you won’t have enough space for you, your mates and your surf boards, or you just don’t want to turn up in your old Vectra – you want to live the dream with a VW Transporter.

The good news is that there are quite a few van rental companies that do offers VW vans – one VanRental.co.uk advertiser (near Dartford) only has VWs.

If you are planning to hire a van for a surfing trip and haven’t driven one before, check out our van driving tips – in short, remember that vans are wider, heavier and don’t handle as well as cars and have lower speed limits. That said, a VW Transporter is about the best-handling and most luxurious medium van you’ll find, so it you should still enjoy the drive.

Illegal immigrants trying to smuggle themselves onto Channel ferries by climbing into lorries is old news – but the illegal immigrant problem goes further and can apply to vans, too.

Leaving aside the problem of drivers deliberately trying to smuggle people into the UK (like this recent case at Hull), anyone driving a big van or a luton should still take care to keep the rear doors locked at all times, even when they are in the vehicle.

I often see luton vans driving around with unlocked roller doors – this may be an acceptable risk in the UK, but I would not recommend it if you are anywhere near a ferry port. This does not just apply to Dover-Calais crossings, either – as the case above shows, immigrants are quite willing to endure a longer crossing such as Hull-Rotterdam and perhaps even the Portsmouth/Plymouth-Bilbao service. Someone with a half-full hire van driving back from Spain would make an ideal target.

If you are in a hired luton van with a roller door that has no lock (quite common), make sure you take your own padlock to keep it secure while you are using the van, especially if you are driving abroad. Remember that you will be responsible for whatever ends up in the van – whether it’s illegal people or illegal drugs. You may also want to protect your own possessions from being stolen!

Both Customs and the UK Border Agency seem to be increasingly active at ferry ports. I recently travelled to the continent on the Hull-Rotterdam crossing and my van was stopped by customs for an inspection on the way out. On the way back, we were sniffed by a sniffer dog before boarding at Rotterdam and when we arrived in Hull, we found that the UK Border Agency were having a field day and checking everyone’s vehicle details on the computer as they came off the ferry.

The UK Border Agency makes no secret of the range of facilities at their disposal – sniffer dogs, heartbeat monitors and CO2 detectors all form part of its armoury, especially at Dover, which is the main point of entry to the UK for illegal immigrants. I have also had my van checked over by sniffer dogs at Rotterdam and Bilbao before now, so the chance of detection is quite hig, whichever route you are travelling on.

The law generally holds the driver responsible for the contents of their vehicle, even if people or drugs have been smuggled into the vehicle without the driver knowing. The best protection is good security and an open pair of eyes – you don’t want to be the one that gets caught out.

7.5t lorries are considerably bigger than vans. If you are driving one for the first time, you will need to take care.

So far in this series, I’ve looked at small, medium, large and luton vans. But what if you need something bigger still?

In terms of van hire, the main option available if you need something bigger than a luton or extra-long wheelbase panel van is 7.5t truck hire.

7.5 tonne lorries are far larger than even the largest of vans but also have a much greater payload. The difference between weight and space is important – sometimes, vans cannot carry enough weight, even when they have enough space.

As a general rule, a 7.5 tonne lorry will have a payload of around 3,000kg – approximately 2-3 times that of most 3.5 tonne vans. This will vary depending on the lorry’s body, make and model and whether it has a tail lift.

Can I Drive A 7.5t Lorry On My Car Licence?

Many drivers can drive 7.5t lorries on their car licences – it depends on when you passed your car driving test.

Drivers who passed their car test before 01/01/1997 should have category C1 on their driving licence. C1 is required to drive a goods vehicle with a maximum laden weight of between 3,500kg and 7,500kg.

Drivers who passed their car test after 01/01/1997 will not have C1 entitlement unless they have taken an additional C1 driving test.

You should also be aware that if you are driving a 7.5t lorry for hire or reward (i.e. not purely for personal use, such as moving house) you will be subject to tachograph rules.

As the driver, it is your responsibility to be aware of this and to comply. The Business Link website has a good introductory guide to tachograph law and the Direct Gov website is the best place to start if you are looking for information about driving licence requirements for goods vehicles.

About 7.5t Lorries

As their name suggests, 7.5t lorries have a MAM of 7,500kg. This class of vehicle really includes all goods vehicles (vans and lorries) with a MAM (maximum laden weight) of between 3,500kg and 7,500kg.

Speed limits for lorries up to 7.5t are the same as for vans up to 3.5t:

• Single carriageways: 50mph
• Dual carriageways: 60mph
• Motorways: 70mph

However, almost all vans and lorries over 3.5t are now fitted with speed limiters set to 56mph, so the dual carriageway and motorway speed limits are now irrelevant.

Driving 7.5t Lorries

If you have not driven a lorry before, you will find driving a 7.5t truck quite different to driving a van or car.

The seating position places you directly above the front wheels, meaning that you are further forward in the vehicle than you are used to and may feel that you have to turn into corners later than usual in order to get the correct line (and avoid the pavement).

Similarly, braking and handling will be quite different to a van or car and the handbrake is likely to be an air brake, controlled by a lever on the dashboard.

On top of all of this, a 7.5t box lorry will be much wider, higher and longer than anything you have driven before. Make sure you know the overall height and width of the vehicle and keep an eye out for low bridges and other restrictions. Do not turn into roads with a signposted 6’6″ width restriction – you will get stuck.

Make sure your mirrors are correctly adjusted and that you understand how to use them to check the space around you. Be careful and don’t try to rush.

Disclaimer

All the information in this article is provided for information only and is especially not intended to be a definitive statement on tachograph law. If you need to know the exact dimensions or payload of the vehicle you are hiring, you will need to speak to the company concerned when making your booking.

It is standard practice in the car and van hire industry to specify a ‘typical’ model when customers make bookings – this won’t necessarily be the exact make or model you get. Usually, this doesn’t matter, but it can do if space or weight is tight.

So far in this series, we’ve looked at small vans, medium vans and luton vans.

In this article, I’m going to take a look at another type of van – long wheelbase and extra-long wheelbase panel vans.

Two popular XLWB vans - the Iveco Daily and the Mercedes Sprinter. Note the long tail overhang - this is a characteristic of extra-long vans. Each of these vehicles is about 7m long

These are the vans you are mostly likely to see driven by couriers (usually Mercedes-Benz Sprinters) but they are also favoured by van rental companies and tradesmen who need large vans that can be driven on a car licence.

Large Panel Vans: LWB vs. XLWB

First of all, it is important to understand that LWB (long wheelbase) is not the same as XLWB (extra-long wheelbase).

These are the most popular long and extra-long wheelbase vans used by UK van hire companies:

1. Ford Transit (Ford calls the extra-long Transit the ‘Jumbo’)
2. Renault Master
3. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter / Volkswagen Crafter (these are the same van with different badges and engines)
4. Iveco Daily

Each of these has slightly different dimensions, but this is approximately what you will get:

(By way of comparison, a typical medium panel van (short wheelbase) is 5m long with a load length of approximately 2.4m.)

It is also worth noting that that LWB and XLWB vans usually come in both high and extra-high roof models – obviously a higher roof provides a greater cubic capacity inside but does not increase the van’s maximum load weight. Just because you can fit more in does not mean it is legal to do so.

Take care when loading your van to keep the heaviest objects low down to help stability and prevent things shifting or getting damaged while you are driving.

Large vans that have been overloaded are an increasingly common problem and the police are very wise to this. Overloading is an offence and the driver is always responsible – ignorance is no excuse.

Disclaimer:

Please remember that van payloads and dimensions all vary slightly between different makes and models of van. If you need to know the exact dimensions or payload of the van you are hiring, you will need to speak to the company concerned when making your booking or when collecting the van. Do not use the figures on this page as a guideline – they are intended as an approximate illustration only.

It is standard practice in the car and van hire industry to specify a ‘typical’ model when customers make bookings – this won’t necessarily be the exact make or model you get. Usually, this doesn’t matter, but it can do if space or weight is tight.

So far in this series we’ve looked at medium panel vans and luton vans – two of the most popular types of rental van. In this post, I’m going to take a look at a different type of van that has become increasingly popular in recent years – the small van.

Small vans, from l-r: Renault Kangoo, Ford Transit Connect & Volkswagen Caddy

Small vans like these are available from almost all van rental companies and are surprisingly flexible and useful. Despite being no bigger than a medium-sized car on the outside, on the inside, their lack of rear seats and square load compartments means that they are bigger than you might think.

Here’s a typical example:

• Overall length: 4.4m
• Overall height: 1.8m (ok for car parks with height barriers)
• Loadspace length: 1.7m
• Load height: 1.1m
• Load width: 1.1m (between wheel arches) and 1.5m (outside wheel arches)
• Payload (carrying capacity): 600kg-800kg, depending on model

Speed Limits for Small Vans

Given that these vans are no bigger than a family car, you might expect them to be subject to the same speed limits as cars.

They aren’t.

Standard van speed limits apply to small vans like the Volkswagen Caddy, Ford Transit Connect, Citroen Berlingo and almost all other small vans, even if they have a maximum weight of less than 2,000kg (2 tonnes)

I’ve discussed the law behind van speed limits before (see here), but all you need to know is that these are the speed limits and they are enforced:

• Single carriageways: 50mph
• Dual carriageways: 60mph
• Motorways: 70mph

Introducing Car-Derived Vans

The only exceptions to these limits are for vans that are genuinely car-derived (i.e. they are based on a car and are the same as the car from the B pillars/seat belt pillars forwards) and have a maximum gross weight of under 2 tonnes.

In practice, this means that only the very smallest vans are exempt from van speed limts. Pretty much all of these are named after the cars they are based on, so they are easy to recognise. For example:

• Ford Fiesta Van
• Vauxhall Corsavan
• Vauxhall Astravan (this is unusually big for a car-derived van and is unique in the UK market)

Car-derived vans are available from some van rental companies but not all – they are so small that most people just use their cars to transport this kind of load, and don’t bother renting a van.

In part 2 of my guide to popular hire van models, I’m going to look at the king of DIY removals – the Luton box van. Famed for its high capacity yet legal to drive on a car driving licence, it’s favoured by ‘man and van’ removal services all over the UK.

At the same time, it’s taller, wider and less stable than anything you are likely to have driven before (unless you have a motorhome), so it’s worth taking a little time to understand what it is and how it differs from a regular panel van.

Here are some of the characteristics that define a luton van:

• The word ‘Luton’ refers to the large storage area that sticks out over the cab of the van. Strictly speaking, this is what defines a luton van. Allegedly called luton becuase the first ones came from the Bedford factory that used to be located in Luton. Modern lutons increasingly have streamlined lutons to help reduce fuel consumption.
• Luton vans normally have a maximum gross (laden) weight of 3.5t (3,500kg). This means that they can be driven on a standard car licence.
• Unlike panel vans, lutons have a completely flat load floor. This is because the body of the van is built on top of a framework that places it above the rear wheels. This means that the floor in a luton is much higher off the ground than in a panel van.
• Many luton vans have tail lifts and they are extremely useful, if not essential, for moving house. The reason that some lutons don’t have tail lifts is because the tail lifts themselves are very heavy, thus taking away some of the payload (carrying capacity) of the van. Some commercial users choose to do without a tail lift so that they can carry more weight.
• The make of the van is pretty irrelevant with a luton – all that the van manufacturer produces is the cab and vehicle chassis. A separate bodybuilding company then builds the luton or box body on top.

Luton bodies are increasingly streamlined to help reduce fuel consumption - although this reduces the storage space available in the overcab luton

Here are my top tips for hiring a luton or box van:

1. A luton will usually be big enough to move the contents of a 1-2 bedroom flat, unless you have a lot of bulky furniture. Remember, if it’s not far, you can always make two trips.
2. When booking a luton van rental, most companies allow you to specify whether you want a tail lift or not. If you do not book a van with a tail lift, you may not get one. This could mean a lot of heavy lifting when you are loading the van.
3. Tail lifts are electrically operated from the van’s battery and are simple to use – you should be shown how the tail lift works when you collect the van from the hire company.
4. Most luton vans have a payload of around 1,200kg – 1,500kg, but if you think you will be cutting it fine, make sure you ask the hire company what the payload of your rented luton van is. Driving a van that is overweight is both dangerous and illegal.
5. The length of luton box vans can vary considerably, but the following approximate load space dimensions are fairly common: 3-4m long, 2m wide & 2.1m high
6. Luton vans are much higher than most panel vans – the overall vehicle height is likely to be between 2.5m and 3m, so watch out for height restrictions and overhead obstructions like trees – you will have to pay for damage caused by overhead objects.
7. Remember, in the UK, van speed limits are lower than car speed limits – don’t get caught out.

Please remember that all of these can vary slightly. If you need to know the exact dimensions or payload of the van you are hiring, you will need to speak to the company concerned when making your booking.

It is standard practice in the car and van hire industry to specify a ‘typical’ model when customers make bookings – this won’t necessarily be the exact make or model you get. Usually, this doesn’t matter, but it can do if space or weight is tight.

One of the original reasons I created VanRental.co.uk (formerly known as MyLocalVanHire.co.uk) was that I knew from personal experience how confusing and intimidating van hire could be if you had never done it before and didn’t know much about vans.

That was four years ago and since then we’ve had more than 1.5m visitors – but things still haven’t changed; the most popular page on VanRental.co.uk is still the Van Size Guide, which provides a simple guide to the load space and carrying capacity of all the most popular types of hire van.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to create a more detailed guide to the main types and models of van that are on the market today and used by Britain’s van rental companies. This guide won’t cover every possible model of van, but it will cover most of the vans you are likely to come across when hiring a van.

Introducing Medium Panel Vans

VanRental.co.uk has had more than 1.5 million visitors in the four years since it was launched and a great many of those have gone on to rent vans from one of the companies listed in our database (more than 720 branches in 400+ locations at the last count).

One thing we have learned is that the most popular type of hire van is the medium panel van – in other words, a bog standard Ford Transit type van:

Medium vans - from l-r: Volkswagen Transporter, Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro & Ford Transit SWB

When you rent a medium van, this is what you are most likely to get (sometimes with a higher roof). These vans are usually short wheelbase models – Ford Transits in particular come in lots of different lengths, but this is the smallest, and the most common size you will get when you request a medium van.

Here are the four most common van models in this category. They are all very similar in size (see below) but they do vary slightly – I’ve listed them in size order, from largest to smallest:

1. Ford Transit SWB (short wheelbase)
2. Vauxhall Vivaro/Renault Trafic (the same vehicle, badged differently)
3. Volkswagen Transporter

For anyone concerned about the economy, there is some good news here too – many Transits are built at Ford’s Southampton plant, while Vauxhall Vivaros are all built at Vauxhall’s Luton factory.

Inside the rear of a Renault Trafic

Here’s what to expect, in terms of size:

• Overall van length: 5m
• Height: 2m or more, with a high roof
• Load space: 2.4m long, 1.7m wide & 1.4m high
• Payload (maximum load weight): Approx. 1,000kg (1 tonne)
• Maximum vehicle weight (fully laden): Usually 2.6t – 2.8t

These vans are all pretty easy to drive and are not much bigger than a large 4×4 – click here for my review of a Renault Trafic.

Please remember that all of these can vary slightly. If you need to know the exact dimensions or payload of the van you are hiring, you will need to speak to the company concerned when making your booking.

It is standard practice in the car and van hire industry to specify a ‘typical’ model when customers make bookings – this won’t necessarily be the exact make or model you get. Usually, this doesn’t matter, but it can do if space or weight is tight.

It may be harder to get a mortgage than it was before the credit crunch struck in 2007, and the the economy is definitely not quite as healthy as it could be – but despite all of this, people continue to buy, sell and improve their homes. As one estate agent recently said to me, “people are still getting married, having children, moving jobs, dying and getting divorced” – life will go on, whatever the economy does.

The latest Bank of England figures show that there were 47,557 mortgages approved for house purchases in March. That means about 47,000 households will be on the move in the next few months, just based on March’s figures alone.

On top of that, countless households will be taking advantage of low mortgage rates and an uncertain economic outlook to improve their home at a moderate cost, rather than committing to a house move and a new mortgage.

If your are moving or engaging in a spot of DIY home improvement, you may need to hire a van. Our van rental search engine allows you to search for the closest van hire companies to your location all over the UK – click here to get started.

P.S. If you’re moving house, why not save money on removals and do it yourself? Our DIY Removals Guide will show you how to go about it – and you may be surprised how easy it can be!

VanRental.co.uk advertiser KB Self Drive has taken online advertising to a new level – video.

KB’s latest video showcases the vans it offers and its convenient 24-hour Birmingham van hire service (it also has branches in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Northfield).

Visit KB Self Drive’s website to learn more or arrange to hire a van.