What Do You Need to Know About Dumper Trucks?

What Do You Need to Know About Dumper Trucks?

Probably one of the less commonly discussed vehicles when it comes to heavy goods vehicles, the dumper truck is the undisputed hero of the construction and public sectors. Equally adept at transporting materials for the building of housing, or ensuring your bins don’t overflow each week, there are few HGVS which are quite as flexible.

What Types of Dumper Truck Are There?

You may have a fixed image come to mind when you hear the term “dumper truck” but in reality, it covers a variety of vehicles with different designs and purposes. We will go over the most common types now.

Rigid Dumper Trucks: Most popular with construction products, and often used for larger loads these trucks have an unrivalled agility for their durability. Transporting materials from the material yard to the construction site becomes a breeze with this workhorse of the construction industry. Their lack of manoeuvrability does tend to confine them to open roads, however.

Articulated Dumper Trucks usually come in once the rigid dumper trucks have done their part, transporting materials around site. Great for coping with difficult terrain, and managing levels of manoeuvrability the rigid dumper truck can only dream of, these aren’t able to carry loads as heavy and require highly skilled drivers – so these vehicles will take quite a bit of training to master.

Tracked Dumper Trucks are particularly suited to rougher terrain or more difficult weather conditions and are seen on construction sites in any scenario. These trucks create a safe environment for the other vehicles on site as they leave flattened ground in their wake. This particularly quality makes them a popular choice for early stages of construction.

Mini Dumper Trucks are simply smaller versions of all of the above vehicles and can be hired or driven as long as they have a category B license. These are simple to use and are often found on home and garden projects.

Do You Need A Special License to Be Able To Drive a Dumper Truck? This depends on the type of Truck you are intending to drive, and the purposes for which you will be using one, however, dumper trucks are generally covered with a CAT B license – which if you passed your driving test on or after the 1st of January 1997 is standard. However it is recommended that you take some specific qualifications – particularly if you are looking to take up a career driving dumper trucks. The CPCS (Construction Plant Competence Scheme) and a standard CPC qualification are must haves and if you are looking to drive a larger truck (over 2.5 tonnes), you will need to upgrade to a Category C License.

Obtain your qualification with CPC driver training at HGV Training Network. We offer one-on-one HGV training from over 40 locations across the country and finance available on all our training courses including HGV training finance.