NSW Police cracking down on overweight towing

By Wes Whitworth 2 Min Read
Photo: Courtesy of NSW Police Force Traffic and Highway Command

NSW Police Forces Traffic and Highway Patrol Command is warning those who are towing to know the weights of their trailer and towing limits of their vehicle.

Authorities in NSW have been warning a crackdown would begin soon on those towing ‘overweight’ trailers, and it has with NSW Police Forces Traffic and Highway Patrol Command posting an image yesterday on Facebook of a Mitsubishi Triton towing a 70 Series LandCruiser on a vehicle trailer. According to the post, the trailer appeared to be unstable.

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When checked (no details provided on how authorities checked) it was determined the Triton was towing over its maximum braked towing capacity by 60kg while the trailer was over its GVM by 120kg. The driver was travelling on the M1 near Tuggerah yesterday.

The post stated the following:

“This combination was stopped at Tuggerah on the M1 yesterday as the trailer appeared to be a little unstable.
A quick check showed the following weights:
Triton towing capacity – 3100kg
Toyota Ute tare weight – 2560kg
Trailer tare weight – 600kg
Trailer GVM – 3000kg
Total weight of trailer with Ute 3160kg.

Triton exceed towing capacity by 60kg, however trailer exceed GVM by 160kg.

The driver was cautioned in relation to the weight breaches and directed to reduce the load. A tow truck was arranged to take the Toyota the rest of the journey.”

This serves as a timely reminder that you should always work out your weights before towing anything. For more information on the subject, check out this article we wrote about payload, GVM, GCM and so much more.


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