Transport feature_Transport feature 17/05/2022 15:27 Page 2
Don’t Get Taken For A Ride By Dr Julie Magnus
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o you have polished and bathed your pony, you have chosen the show, bribed your friends with chocolates to come along and help, now to choose your transport to get you to a show. With the advent of social media, there are plenty of pages of horse transport, self-drive or trailer hire, and with the usual dangers of social media even horse transport despite it being heavily regulated, has its fair share of scammers or illegals or legal cowboys. So you are now asking what harm is it to give the person down the road £50 to take you to the show, or even someone on the yard to take you. Well this is not legal and whilst you might think you are saving yourself some money, when it goes wrong usually either seriously injuring your horse or worse killing your horse this is where you find out that saving this money was the most expensive thing you have ever done. Hindsight Is a Wonderful Gift. Legal Horse Transport is costly and rightly so. The insurances are very expensive, as well as the requirements to keep the vehicles on the road. There are deaths of horses whose owners who did not know what to check for every single day. There is no recourse for owners who have sadly lost their horse to an illegal transporter; the only thing to do is get an equine solicitor and start civil proceedings against that person. This is very costly and when it does end up at court you will probably find the illegal transporter you used cannot pay back your costs so will pay back at £5 a month! So how do I know my transport is legal? DEFRA hold a database of licenced transporters, but it is a switchboard and not disabled friendly. To negotiate to get to the WIT Team to speak to someone to get the information, you will need the company name, the person’s name and the address of the transporter; not easy on social media where the illegals hide. Worse you can only access this Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
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Show Special 2022
DVSA hold all the transporters who have operator licences, so that is anyone currently over 3.51t and above or 4x4 and trailer. And from May 2022, all international 2.5t and above will have to have an operator's licence, tacho fitted, and a speed limiter fitted. https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-operator-licence-applications This is available 24/7, so is a lot easier and you can tell if the lorry or 4x4 and trailer is legal. What my Transporter should have Must have by law DEFRA ATA T1 under 8 hours & CET OR DEFRA ATA T2 over 8 hours & ACET T2 container certificate International must have EU equivalent of ATA T2, ACET and T2 container certificate and an office based in the country and their business also registered in the EU country. Now a T1 has not had the vehicle inspected; they cannot do anymore than 8 hours (so a day at a show is a no straight away, or a beach ride). A T1 has taken an online test that is all the Certificate in Equine Transport! And then applied to DEFRA for an ATA T1. DEFRA do not check that the person or the vehicle is safe, they just check that the post code is valid. T2 now the person has not only taken an online test, but they have also handled a horse with an examiner and driven the horse on test, unloaded as well and been examined on this. This is an NVQ 3 qualification Advanced Certificate in Equine Transport ACET. A T2 can travel a horse over 8 hours so nationwide transport. (Since BREXIT these lorries are no longer INTERNATIONAL unless they have
gone to the EU country and registered all over again and retaken the ACET, and had the lorry inspected over in the EU country as well and got an office registered in the EU country.) The Lorry will also have been inspected by a company working for DEFRA. Checks will be made to make sure the partitions are safe and will not cause injury, that the fans are working, that the temperature monitors are working, that the ramp angles are no more than 20 degrees and no steps at the top of the ramp, that the on board trackers are working, that the vehicle has equipment to load horses, ferry lashing points front, sides and rear of the vehicle, equipment to feed horses and access to water and forage on board as well. Directory's need to be carried as well listing stabling, vet surgery's. This gives the T2 Container Certificate valid for 5 years. After 5 years the lorry must be inspected again. Insurances Must have by law hire and reward. Optional (but if they do not have it, it is adviseable not to use them): Public and Employers Liability, Care Custody and Control, Trade Equine Breakdown Recovery. Vehicle must have by law 3.51t and above Operators Licence (blue or green disc in the window). 4x4 and trailer must have Operators Licence (blue or green disc in the window) . For the latest news visit www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
