The Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were made on 11 May 2026 and come into force on 1 June 2026. The instrument was made by the Secretary of State under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and section 14(3) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, and it extends to England and Wales and Scotland. As recorded in the preamble published on legislation.gov.uk, the Department for Transport consulted representative organisations before laying the draft, and both Houses of Parliament approved it. That procedural route is important because the Regulations do more than update drafting. They reset how a defined group of zero-emission goods vehicles is treated for roadworthiness testing, tyre standards, drivers’ hours and tachograph compliance.
The Explanatory Note sets out the central change in direct terms. Zero-emission goods vehicles with a design gross weight or maximum permissible mass above 3,500 kilograms and up to 4,250 kilograms are brought into the framework that already applies to lighter goods vehicles at or below 3.5 tonnes. At the same time, those vehicles are taken out of the heavier framework that would otherwise have applied because their weight exceeds 3.5 tonnes. The Regulations define a zero-emission vehicle as one without an internal combustion engine, or one with an internal combustion engine whose CO2 emissions are zero grams per kilometre. In practice, the instrument creates a separate compliance route for this weight band rather than allowing weight alone to place it into the heavier goods vehicle regime.
The testing changes are concentrated in the Motor Vehicles (Tests) Regulations 1981 and the Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1988. Class 7 is amended so that it now covers not only certain N1 goods vehicles above 3,000 kilograms and up to 3,500 kilograms, but also N2 zero-emission goods vehicles above 3,500 kilograms and up to 4,250 kilograms. The same package then removes those vehicles from the heavy vehicle roadworthiness system. Schedule 2 to the 1988 Regulations is amended to exempt zero-emission goods vehicles above 3.5 tonnes and up to 4.25 tonnes from that regime. For operators, this is the clearest practical effect of the instrument: affected vehicles move into the Class 7 MOT route instead of the heavier plating and testing process.
The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 are also amended so that tyre requirements align with the new testing structure. Regulation 27 is revised to reflect a split between non-zero-emission goods vehicles above 3,500 kilograms and zero-emission goods vehicles, which do not move into the heavier threshold until they exceed 4,250 kilograms. This drafting matters because it keeps the construction and use rules consistent with the test category applied to the vehicle. In policy terms, the Department for Transport has aligned tyre compliance for this weight band with the lighter goods vehicle framework, while leaving the higher-weight rules in place for vehicles outside the newly defined zero-emission category.
The drivers’ hours change is equally significant. The Community Drivers’ Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2007 are amended by revoking and replacing paragraph 6 of the Schedule, which contains a national derogation from the assimilated EU drivers’ hours rules and the related tachograph rules. Under the replacement text, a zero-emission vehicle used by an undertaking for the carriage of goods is exempt where its maximum permissible mass, including any trailer or semi-trailer, exceeds 3.5 tonnes but does not exceed 4.25 tonnes. The Explanatory Note states that this exemption applies with no distance limit. That is a wider position than the separate exemption that continues for certain gas or electric vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes when operating within a 100 kilometre radius of the undertaking’s base.
The instrument also includes a formal review duty. The Secretary of State must review the regulatory provision from time to time and publish a report on the conclusions, with the first report due before the end of the five-year period beginning on 1 June 2026. Later reports must follow at intervals of no more than five years. That requirement comes from the standard review framework linked to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. The Regulations state that each review must assess whether the objectives have been achieved, whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if they do, whether they could be met in a less onerous way.
For fleet operators, the immediate compliance point is straightforward. From 1 June 2026, zero-emission goods vehicles in the 3.5 to 4.25 tonne bracket should be managed against the Class 7 MOT framework and the adjusted tyre rules, rather than the heavy vehicle testing route that would normally follow from crossing the 3.5 tonne threshold. There is also a clear operational consequence for carriage of goods. Where those vehicles are used by an undertaking, the assimilated drivers’ hours and tachograph rules no longer apply to them under the new exemption. The Government’s position, set out in the Explanatory Note, is that no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is expected, so no full impact assessment was prepared, although de minimis assessments for the testing changes and the drivers’ hours changes were published alongside the instrument.