Light commercial vehicle

A light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand is a commercial carrier vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 metric tons (tonnes).^[1] The LCV designation is also occasionally used in both Canada and Ireland (where the term commercial van is more commonly used).

In the UK, light haulage is a restricted-weight delivery service where the maximum permitted gross vehicle weight rating without the need of an operator's license is also up to 3.5 tonnes. Usually light haulage excludes a distribution center as the majority of deliveries are direct. A delivery may consist of a single, multiple or priority urgent load and can be either same day or next day delivery. The vehicle (as long as it doesn't exceed the 3.5 T gross vehicle weight) does not require a tachograph and can also be driven by people with a regular car license without the need for an Operator's License. The speed restriction is higher than heavy goods vehicles: 60 MPH on dual carriageways and up to 70 MPH on motorways.

Qualifying light commercial vehicles include pickup trucks, vans and three-wheelers – all commercially based goods or passenger carrier vehicles. The LCV concept was created as a compact truck and is usually optimised to be tough-built, have low operating costs and powerful yet fuel efficient engines, and to be used in intra-city operations.