Box trucks and rigid distribution trucks: 7.5 to 26 t chassis, bodies and EU rules

A box truck, or rigid distribution truck, carries its load body on its own chassis behind the cab: a closed box, a curtainsider body or an insulated, refrigerated box. In Directive 96/53/EC such a truck is a motor vehicle; coupled to a trailer it forms a road train, while a motor vehicle coupled to a semi-trailer is an articulated vehicle. Several makers list these chassis from 7.5 tonnes: DAF presents its XB as “a full series of distribution vehicles in the 7.5 up to 19 tonnes class”, MAN its TGL from 7.5 to 12 t and its TGM from 12 to 26 t for goods distribution, and Renault Trucks its D and D Wide rigids from 7.5 to 26 t. EU law draws three lines in that range: 7,500 kg, where the C1 driving licence ends, 18 tonnes for a two-axle motor vehicle, and 25 or 26 tonnes for one with three axles. Body builders such as Schmitz Cargobull and SPIER offer their bodies for the chassis of several makers; DAF also delivers XB trucks with its own PACCAR bodies.

Status as at 27 October 2026. Read on that day: Directive 96/53/EC in its consolidated text of 14 August 2019, Directive 2006/126/EC and Directive (EU) 2025/2205; the data sheets, brochures, web pages and releases of DAF, Iveco, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Trucks and Volvo, Anadolu Isuzu’s N-series pages and International’s and Freightliner’s specification pages; and the published data of the body builders Schmitz Cargobull, SPIER, Krone and Gray & Adams.

Three lines in EU law

The licence line is in Article 4(4) of Directive 2006/126/EC, the driving licence directive in force. Its category C1 covers motor vehicles other than those in the bus categories D1 or D, “the maximum authorised mass of which exceeds 3 500 kg, but does not exceed 7 500 kg”, designed and constructed for no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver, with a trailer of up to 750 kg; category C covers the same vehicles over 3,500 kg with no upper mass limit. Directive (EU) 2025/2205, which repeals Directive 2006/126/EC with effect from 26 November 2029, defines the C1 mass band in the same words in its Article 6(1). Ages, trailer categories and test vehicles are set out in truck driving licences, and the rules in Great Britain in driving a minibus or 7.5-tonne lorry on a car licence.

The weight lines are in Annex I of Directive 96/53/EC, whose weights are maximum weights for use in international traffic (Article 2). Point 2.3.1 reads: “Two-axle motor vehicles other than buses: 18 tonnes”. Point 2.3.2 gives three-axle motor vehicles “25 tonnes, or 26 tonnes where the driving axle is fitted with twin tyres and air suspension or suspension recognised as being equivalent within the Union”, or where each driving axle has twin tyres and no axle exceeds 9.5 tonnes. Both points add the extra weight of the alternative-fuel or zero-emission technology: up to 1 tonne for an alternatively fuelled vehicle and up to 2 tonnes for a zero-emission vehicle. Axle limits, national deviations and the plated and design figures on vehicle documents are covered in truck weights: GVW and GCW. On the UK and GB data sheets of DAF, MAN and Volvo, the two-axle rigids are registered or plated at up to 18,000 kg and the three-axle rigids at up to 26,000 kg; several sheets print a higher technical or design figure beside them, such as 20,500 kg design against 18,000 kg plated on Volvo’s sheet for the FE 4x2 rigid.

For dimensions, point 1.1 of the same Annex sets a maximum length of 12.00 m for a “motor vehicle other than a bus”, and point 1.3 a maximum height of 4.00 m for any vehicle; point 1.4 counts removable superstructures and standardised freight items such as containers within those dimensions. Point 1.2 sets the width at 2.55 m, with an exception for the bodies of temperature-controlled vehicles described below. Article 4(1)(a) bars Member States from authorising the normal circulation of national goods vehicles that do not conform to the length and width points, among others, while Article 4(2) lets them authorise vehicles in national transport that do not conform to the height and weight points. The length table and its exceptions are in aerodynamic cabs and length rules and semi-trailer dimensions.

Article 7 adds local limits. It keeps national road traffic rules that limit the weight or dimensions of vehicles on certain roads or structures, and since its amendment in 2002 reads on: “This includes the possibility to impose local restrictions on maximum authorised dimensions and/or weights of vehicles that may be used in specified areas or on specified roads, where the infrastructure is not suitable for long and heavy vehicles, such as city centres, small villages or places of special natural interest.”

The chassis, maker by maker

In alphabetical order, as each maker’s own documents give them.

• DAF. DAF’s release of 10 July 2025 extended its factory-fitted PACCAR bodies for the DAF XB: box bodies, curtain siders and Aerobody variants, “with multiple options for length, tail lifts, side and rear doors, lighting, and much more”, assembled on a dedicated production line at Leyland; for the Continent the box body is offered on the 12 t chassis. The XB brochure gives that box body as 7.3 m long with space for up to 18 Euro pallets, and the XB a load length of up to 9 metres; the 2023 launch release gives wheelbases up to 6.9 m and chassis lengths “allowing over 9 metres superstructures”. The 12 t XB sheet offers mirror brackets for body widths from 2.10 to 2.60 m and an application connector for a hydraulic platform, and the brochure gives the 7.5, 12 and 16 t XB models a three-star rating under the London Direct Vision Standard. The UK sheets for the DAF XD go on beyond 26 t, to 8x2 and 8x4 rigids of 32,000 kg.
• Isuzu. Anadolu Isuzu’s Turkish pages for the Isuzu N-series give a usable chassis length of 4,370 mm for the NPR and NPR 10, 5,020 mm for the NPR Long and 5,235 mm for the three-axle NPR 3D, and a carrying capacity of 4,668 kg on the 7,500 kg NPR, 4,659 kg on the NPR Long, 6,507 kg on the 9,800 kg NPR 10 and 8,817 kg on the 12,500 kg NPR 3D.
• Iveco. The Model Year 26 brochure for the Iveco Eurocargo lists 11 gross vehicle weights and 17 wheelbases, air suspension on the rear axle or on both axles that lets the vehicle “raise and lower to meet loading decks”, and a provision for adding a third axle to the 16 t and 18 t models. For regional transport Iveco Austria gives an overall length of up to 9,800 mm, and for city work a 7.5 t version with a 3,105 mm wheelbase and a 12.5 m turning circle.
• MAN. MAN’s UK chassis sheets for the MAN TGL and MAN TGM print a minimum and a maximum recommended body length for each wheelbase and cab; with the base CC cab, on the 7.5 t TGL, 4,868 to 4,960 mm on the shortest wheelbase, 3,600 mm, and 7,827 to 8,060 mm on the longest, 5,550 mm; on the 12 t TGL, 9,324 to 9,760 mm on a 6,700 mm wheelbase “available with 250 PS engine only”; on the 26 t TGM 6x2-4, 6,175 to 6,403 mm on 3,875 mm and 9,300 to 9,360 mm on 5,775 mm. Each sheet adds: “Recommended body length only applicable to bodies with UDL, without auxiliary equipment and vehicle to base specification.” DAF’s sheets carry a similar note: “Body lengths shown based on evenly distributed load at max axle load.” MAN’s release of 21 October 2020 names the bodies its TGL, TGM and TGS chassis take: “a dry box, a flatbed with sliding tarpaulin, a special body for beverages, a refrigerated box or a tank”.
• Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz’s UK product sheet of February 2025 gives the Mercedes-Benz Atego a permissible gross vehicle weight of 7.5 to 15 t, a 4x2 or 4x4 wheel formula, OM 934 and OM 936 engines from 115 to 220 kW and a cab width of 2.30 m. Its German distribution brochure of 2016, titled for 6.5 to 26 tonnes, placed the Atego at 6.5 to 16 t and the Antos from 18 t.
• Renault Trucks. Renault’s brochure of September 2024 for the Renault Trucks D and D Wide gives “17 wheelbase options (up to 6,800 mm)”, from 3,250 mm, and cab widths of 2.1 m on the D and 2.3 m on the D Wide. Renault’s own documents differ on where the D stops: the brochure’s range poster and the German product page give up to 19 t, while the international distribution-range page lists the D as “rigids from 7.5 to 18 t” and the D Wide as “rigids and tractors from 16 to 26 t”.
• Volvo. Volvo’s GB data sheets for the Volvo FL and Volvo FE print, beside the kerb weight, a “Payload (including body, driver, fuel, etc.)” for each wheelbase: from 8,080 kg on the 3,250 mm wheelbase to 7,825 kg on 6,500 mm for the 12 tonne FL rigid, and from 18,585 to 18,225 kg for the 26 tonne FE 6x4. The FE product guide lists frame section heights of 266 and 300 mm.

DAF, MAN and Renault Trucks also build these ranges for refuse collection or tipper work; those bodies are covered in refuse collection vehicles and tipper trucks, and how wheel formulae are written in axle configurations explained.

Box, curtainsider and refrigerated bodies

Body builders publish the dimensions of their bodies, some of them also the body weight and a pallet count. Pallet footprints and floor counts for trailers are in how many pallets fit in a trailer, and the pallet calculator runs the count for other load spaces.

Box bodies are closed bodies for dry freight. SPIER builds its Athlet box bodies from plywood, a multi-layer wood panel coated with glass-fibre-reinforced plastic, for chassis of 7.0 to 26 t, and every Athlet body above 12.0 t in plywood; its lighter Athlet Plus, with GRP-coated lightweight walls around a rigid-foam core, goes up to 12.0 t. SPIER states that the Athlet bodies are tested and certified to VDI 2700, EN 12195 part 1 and EN 12642. Schmitz Cargobull’s M.KO EXPRESS is a box body for valuable and dry freight, and Schmitz Cargobull also builds box bodies with a folding side wall, for loading from the side along the entire length of the load space.

Curtainsider bodies are loaded from the side once the curtains are opened. Schmitz Cargobull’s technical data for the M.CS 26 S, a curtainsider body for a truck of 26,000 kg with axle loads of 7,500 and 19,000 kg, give internal lengths of 7,320, 7,720 and 8,120 mm for 18, 19 and 20 Euro pallet spaces and 53.5 to 59.5 m³ at an interior height of 2,950 mm; interior heights of 2,900 to 3,000 mm in the MEGA version; a body weight from 2,100 kg; a loading height of approx. 1,030 mm, “depending on truck chassis”; and a body strength certified to DIN EN 12642 Code XL, a code explained in load securing. DAF’s factory PACCAR range includes curtain siders.

Refrigerated bodies are insulated boxes with a refrigeration unit, which Schmitz Cargobull offers on the front wall or in underfloor design for its M.KO truck bodies and Z.KO trailers. Its short information gives the M.KO a body length in the light of 6,050 to 8,900 mm, a total width of 2,600 mm, a total height of up to 4,000 mm, an interior width of 2,460 mm or 2,490 mm, marked FP 60 and FP 45, and a mounting height in the light of up to 2,600 mm, for motor vehicles from 12 t and with the ATP-FRC certificate. SPIER builds its Athlet Thermo refrigerated bodies for chassis of 3.5 to 26 t. Its data sheet of September 2026 for an Athlet Thermo 6 on a MAN e-TGM of 15,500 kg gives an inside body length of approx. 8,000 mm, a width of approx. 2,490 mm and a height of approx. 2,200 mm, approx. 41.90 m³, side walls of approx. 50 mm, a front wall and roof of approx. 100 mm, a floor of approx. 100 mm, a payload of approx. 5,050 kg and a Bär BC 2000 S4 tail lift; MAN’s own eTGM page gives a gross vehicle weight of 16.01 t, optionally 16.5 t. Gray & Adams builds refrigerated bodywork “from a 3.5 tonne panel van to specialist eight-wheel, 32 tonne delivery vehicles”, with lightweight 3-element panels or 5-element panels “for intensive loading and unloading operations”, barn, triple or shutter doors and underslung or column-mounted tail lifts.

Temperature-controlled bodies have a width rule of their own. Point 1.2 of Annex I to Directive 96/53/EC sets 2.55 m for all vehicles except “superstructures of conditioned vehicles or conditioned containers or swap bodies transported by vehicles”, which may be 2.60 m wide. Article 2 defines a conditioned vehicle as one whose fixed or movable superstructures “are specially equipped for the carriage of goods at controlled temperatures and whose side walls, inclusive of insulation, are each at least 45 mm thick”, and Article 3(3) lets Member States require such vehicles to carry an ATP certificate or ATP certification plate. The ATP agreement and its tests are covered in ATP and refrigerated transport, the refrigerants of transport refrigeration units in F-gas rules for vehicle air conditioning and reefers, and demountable boxes in swap bodies explained.

With a trailer: the drawbar combination

A rigid truck with a trailer is a road train in Directive 96/53/EC, which defines a trailer as a vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle “excluding semi-trailers” (Article 2). For the road train, Annex I sets:

• a maximum length of 18.75 m (point 1.1), against 12.00 m for the motor vehicle and for the trailer;
• a maximum of 16.40 m from the foremost external point of the loading area behind the cab to the rearmost external point of the trailer (point 1.8), and of 15.65 m for the same distance minus the distance between the rear of the drawing vehicle and the front of the trailer (point 1.7);
• at least 3.00 m between the rear axle of the motor vehicle and the front axle of the trailer (point 4.2);
• 18 tonnes for a two-axle trailer and 24 tonnes for a three-axle trailer (points 2.1.1 and 2.1.2);
• 36 tonnes for a four-axle road train of a two-axle motor vehicle and a two-axle trailer (point 2.2.3) and 40 tonnes for one with five or six axles (point 2.2.1), both raised by up to 1 or 2 tonnes where the combination includes an alternatively fuelled or zero-emission vehicle.

Points 1.7 and 1.8 are also set out in swap bodies explained, the 40 tonnes in truck weights: GVW and GCW, and the type-approval codes for drawbar and centre-axle trailers in the truck and bus glossary.

Body builders build both halves of such combinations. Schmitz Cargobull’s through-loading combination of an M.KO box truck and a Z.KO central-axle trailer is loaded by forklift through both bodies without uncoupling, the tail lift of the truck body forming the bridge. Its brochure draws it over 16,400 mm, as two 7,820 mm bodies with 760 mm between them, and gives four splits between truck and trailer body: 7,820 and 7,820 mm, 7,990 and 7,640 mm, 8,290 and 7,290 mm, and 8,900 and 6,740 mm. The brochure counts 38 pallet spaces for a central-axle combination, “five more pallets than in a semi-trailer”, and the M.KO EXPRESS and M.CS pages give up to 38 Euro pallets; the 2026 flyer for the refrigerated M.KO COOL/Z.KO COOL gives up to 36. Krone offers its Load Carrier, a trailer with a fixed body, as a drawbar or a central-axle trailer, and gives the ZZP 18 eL4-CS a permissible total weight of 18,000 kg, an empty weight of approx. 4,830 kg, an internal length of 7,300 mm and a length of 9,620 mm to the centre of the towing eye. SPIER builds two-axle turntable drawbar trailers and two-axle central-axle trailers with its Athlet box body, and Gray & Adams lists drawbar trailer options for its refrigerated rigids.

The chassis sheets also print a combination weight. DAF’s UK sheet for the 12 t XB gives a driveline-related technical GCM “equal to GVM” as standard, with options of 18,000, 20,000 and 22,000 kg or GVM plus 3,500 kg; MAN’s UK sheets give the 15, 18 and 26 t TGM a gross train weight of 33,000 kg, “Maximum value subject to specification”; and Volvo’s GB sheets for the FL rigids print a plated gross combination weight of 0 beside design figures of 15,500 to 24,000 kg. On the licence side, a C1 vehicle with a trailer over 750 kg is in category C1E, provided the combination does not exceed 12,000 kg, and a C vehicle with such a trailer in category CE (Article 4(4)(e) and (g) of Directive 2006/126/EC).

Electric chassis

MAN builds the eTGL in Kraków, where it has been rolling off the line since mid-July 2026, and expects production of the eTGM to commence in December 2026; Volvo announced in December 2025 that production of the 14-tonne FL Electric would begin in the second half of 2026. The weight allowance for zero-emission technology in Annex I of Directive 96/53/EC is set out in truck weights: GVW and GCW, and the difference between installed and usable battery capacity in installed vs usable battery capacity.

North America

International sells its MV Series as a dry van: its specification sheet of January 2026 gives a GVWR of 21,500 to 54,700 lbs., 4x2 or 6x4 and wheelbases of 128 to 311 inches, and its web page pairs dry-van wheelbases with box lengths, 217 inches for a 20-foot box, 236 inches for 22 feet, 254 inches for 24 feet and 272 inches for 26 feet. Freightliner gives the M2 106 Plus as Class 6 to 8, with a GVWR of 66,000 lbs. and 200 to 360 HP. The US licence classes are covered in CDL classes and endorsements.