What are Commercial Vehicles?

What are Commercial Vehicles?

You might not know it, but you have seen commercial vehicles driving along the streets. They are the kind of vehicle which is used by businesses for the purpose of transporting their goods and transporting passengers. The European definition of commercial vehicles is as follows: any motorised road vehicle designed for transporting more than nine persons, which includes the driver, or goods and standard fuel tanks. The standard fuel tanks comment refers to a fuel tank which is attached to all vehicles produced by the manufacturer which can be used for propelling the car or for the equipment (for example refrigeration equipment) connected to the vehicle.

The majority of commercial vehicles will be registered to a specific business and used sole to move that company's goods or workers. These include things like goods vans, company automobiles and fleet vehicles. Any kind of vehicle that can carry over 16 persons at once, by design not simply because you can fit twenty people on the rear of a bakkie.

Any kind of vehicle could be designated as a commercial vehicle in the event that at least one of the following is true of the vehicle: it's registered under the brand of a business, the automobile is employed for business even if it is registered in the name of an individual (a sole proprietors private vehicle), the automobile is leased and in the name of the of the company that is the owner of it (a rental car owned by the rental company but rented to a customer), the vehicle is automatically classified as a commercial automobile because of its weight or it's used to transport hazardous materials of any description.

The classification of commercial vehicles is based on weight. Any vehicle that is heavier than 11794kg is automatically classed as a commercial vehicle, regardless of what use it is set to. the United States categorizes them in eight classes. They're the following: 

. Class 1 - 0 to 2,722 kg
. Class 2 - 2,722 to 4,536 kg
. Class 3 - 4,536 to 6,350 kg
. Class 4 - 6,351 to 7,257 kg
. Class 5 - 7,258 to 8,845 kilograms
. Class 6 - 8,846 to 11,793 kilograms
. Class 7 - 11,794 to 14,969 kilograms
. Class 8 - 14,969 kg and heavier

Commercial automobiles can be used for both private and business use, but the business use must outweigh the private use by a significant sum, otherwise the vehicle should be regarded as a private vehicle.

In South Africa, probably the most frequently seen (and often disliked) commercial automobile is the taxi bus. They are usually licensed to some taxi company and leased to the drivers for an excessively high amount. The drivers first need to make enough deals to cover the lease of the vehicle, that is often improperly maintained, before they can make any money for themselves. This frequently results in dangerous driving manoeuvres and haphazard stopping of the motor vehicle, making taxi drivers one of the most hated yet necessary creatures on the African continent.

Commercial vehicles tend to be in use everywhere every day, but are often ignored or sworn at, but they're necessary to help our economy operate correctly.