Gross combination weight, GVW and axle loads: the EU limits

A loaded articulated combination carries at least four different weights. Gross vehicle weight, gross combination weight, payload and individual axle loads are separate figures, and the EU rules limit the gross weights and the axle loads separately. A combination can sit comfortably under its gross limit and still be over the limit for one axle, because too much of the load has ended up above it.

The four numbers and what each one is for

Tare weight — kerb or unladen weight — is the vehicle before its load, and what it includes depends on the document: Volvo’s GB data sheet for the FH 6×4 tractor says its chassis weight “includes oil, water, AdBlue, 0 litres fuel and without driver”.

Gross vehicle weight (GVW, or GVM) is the most the vehicle itself may weigh when loaded. On a rigid that includes body and cargo. On a tractor unit it includes the share of the semi-trailer that rests on the fifth wheel: Directive 96/53/EC defines a semi-trailer as coupled so that “part of it rests on the motor vehicle with a substantial part of its weight and of the weight of its load being borne by the motor vehicle”. A trailer data sheet prints that share as the imposed load on the fifth wheel — 12,000 kg on Schmitz Cargobull’s sheet for the S.KI SOLID 7.2.

Gross combination weight (GCW), also called gross train weight — MAN’s UK sheets print “GTW Gross Train Weight” — is tractor plus trailer plus everything on both. It is the figure Annex I of the directive caps at 40 tonnes for most five- and six-axle combinations.

Payload is the remainder: permitted GCW, minus the tare of the tractor, minus the tare of the trailer. That definition is ours, and it is why a tractor’s payload means little without the trailer you couple to — Mercedes-Benz states the eActros 600’s payload “with a standard semitrailer”. By the same subtraction, wherever the gross limit is the one that binds, every kilogram added anywhere in the combination, whether a bigger fuel tank or a third axle, comes out of the payload — except, up to the allowance described in the electric and gas section below, the extra weight of an alternative-fuel or zero-emission powertrain.

What the EU rules actually say

For international traffic within the EU the limits come from Council Directive 96/53/EC, and its Annex I is worth reading once rather than being quoted at second hand. Article 1(2) says what kind of number they are: the weights in Annex I “are valid as circulation standards and thus refer to loading conditions, not production standards”.

The gross figures are the familiar ones. A two-axle motor vehicle other than a bus is limited to 18 tonnes, a two-axle bus to 19.5 tonnes. A three-axle motor vehicle is limited to 25 tonnes, or 26 tonnes where the driving axle is fitted with twin tyres and air suspension or a recognised equivalent, or where each driving axle has twin tyres and no axle exceeds 9.5 tonnes. An articulated vehicle or road train with five or six axles is limited to 40 tonnes. In intermodal transport operations carrying one or more containers or swap bodies up to a total length of 45 feet, a two-axle tractor with a three-axle semi-trailer is allowed 42 tonnes, and a three-axle tractor with a two- or three-axle semi-trailer 44 tonnes. A three-axle articulated bus is 28 tonnes.

The axle figures are set separately. A single non-driving axle is limited to 10 tonnes and a driving axle to 11.5 tonnes. Bogie limits then depend on how far apart the axles sit. On a trailer or semi-trailer, a tandem set is limited to 11 tonnes where the spacing is under one metre, 16 tonnes from one metre to under 1.3, 18 tonnes from 1.3 to under 1.8, and 20 tonnes at 1.8 metres and above. A tri-axle set is limited to 21 tonnes at up to 1.3 metres and 24 tonnes over 1.3 and up to 1.4. On the motor vehicle itself a tandem set runs 11.5 tonnes under a metre, 16 tonnes from one metre to under 1.3, and 18 tonnes from 1.3 to under 1.8 — 19 tonnes where the driving axle has twin tyres and air suspension or a recognised equivalent, or where each driving axle has twin tyres and no axle exceeds 9.5 tonnes.

Those spacing bands tie a trailer bogie’s legal capacity to its geometry: the trailer bands carry no tyre condition, so a spacing in a lower band carries the lower limit whatever the tyres are rated at. The manufacturer’s own rating is a separate number again: Schmitz Cargobull’s data sheet for the S.KI SOLID 7.2 tipper semi-trailer gives its bogie 24,000 kg permissible against 27,000 kg technical.

Why the axle number can bite when the gross number does not

The gross figure is an arithmetic total. The axle figures describe where the load actually is, and nothing about the gross reading tells you that.

The European Commission’s 2014 best-practice guidelines on cargo securing — “not binding in the sense of a legal act adopted by the Union”, by their own account — describe how the position of the load decides it. Vehicles are “particularly sensitive to the position of the centre of gravity of the load”; a load distribution diagram shows the permissible payload against where that centre of gravity sits along the vehicle; and “generally, the maximum pay load may be used only when the centre of gravity is positioned within narrow boundaries about half the length of the loading space”. Volvo, writing about electric 4x2 long-haul tractors, describes a case that changes during the trip: “Even if a fully loaded 4x2 is within legal limits, the center of gravity can shift onto the drive axle as it is unloaded, quickly overloading the fifth wheel.” The same placement decision is a load securing question too: Annex III of Directive 2014/47/EU, the roadside-inspection directive, says “the distribution of cargo shall take into account the maximum authorised axle loads as well as the necessary minimum axle loads”.

Axle count is the other lever. Scania’s S-series specifications list the tractor in 4×2, 4×4, 6×2, 6×2/2, 6×2/4, 6×4 and 6×6, and gloss 6×2/2 as “6x2 pusher” and 6×2/4 as “6x2 twin-steer” — the notation is read in axle configurations explained. On what a third axle does, Volvo, describing the lightweight tag axle it fits behind the drive axle of some electric tractors, says that “much like the additional axle on a conventional 6x2 tractor” it “relieves weight from the drive axle and fifth wheel and increases the overall load capacity”.

The manufacturer’s rating is a second, separate ceiling

The directive’s figures, by Article 1(2), describe loading conditions. What a vehicle’s components are rated for comes from its maker, and it is a separate figure that each maker publishes in its own way.

Volvo’s UK specifications for the FH give each I-Shift gearbox its own GCW approval, from 44 to 100 tonnes, and each rear axle its own approval over the same range, while Volvo’s GB data sheet of 25 September 2026 for the FH 6×4 tractor gives two of its six gearboxes a GCW of 60 tonnes and a third 100 tonnes, and prints a plated gross combination weight of 44,000 kg, the same as its design figure. Scania’s figures follow the driveline too, but they are not a combination rating: its S-series specifications give what each type of rear axle gear can handle, stated as gross vehicle and train weight — up to 78 tonnes with single driven single reduction, 80 tonnes with single driven hub reduction or tandem single reduction, and 210 tonnes with tandem hub reduction. Those are capacities of the axle gear, not a permitted weight for any one truck. The 325 tonnes in Volvo’s 2016 release on I-Shift with crawler gears is not an approval either: the release says a truck with the crawler gears can move off from standstill and transport a gross combination weight of up to 325 tonnes, which describes a capability.

MAN UK’s chassis specifications of May 2022 for the MAN TGX give the D38 6×4 tractor (TGX 26.540 to 26.640) a gross train weight of 44,000 kg and the 4×2 tractor with the D26 (TGX 18.430 to 18.510) 40,000 kg, in both their “Design” and “UK Legal” columns. DAF’s UK sheets of 10 July 2025 for two XD 4×2 rigids both give 18,000 kg gross vehicle, but a driveline related maximum gross combination of 19,000 kg on the XD 230 sheet, with PX-7 engines, against 38,000 kg on the XD 300 sheet, with MX-11 engines, which also lists options from 27,000 to 60,000 kg; DAF footnotes both figures as “in conformity with registration documents”. Volvo’s GB sheets for the FL print a plated column beside a design column that does not always carry the same number: the 4×2 sheet titled “16 tonne” plates the vehicle at 14,440 kg gross against a design figure of 16,000 kg. MAN’s GB sheets of May 2022 for the MAN TGL, a 4×2 in every version, give 7,500, 10,000 and 12,000 kg gross vehicle with gross train weights of 18,750, 21,000 and 24,000 kg respectively. Iveco prints a whole ladder: on the 4×2 Eurocargo, gross vehicle weight runs from 7,500 kg to 19,000 kg in eleven steps, and on diesel the maximum gross combination runs 16,500 and 18,000 kg and then, in a column the brochures head “up to”, 26,000 and 35,000 kg — so, by our subtraction, a 15,000 kg model and a 14,000 kg model differ by one tonne of vehicle and nine tonnes of combination.

Some makers publish no single figure. On the Mercedes-Benz Atego the gross vehicle weight is 7.5–15 t on the February 2025 UK product sheets, 15.6–16.0 t for the 4×4 on a defence table and 16 t for one named 4×4 in an August 2025 release, and the only combination figure found, “6.5–44 tonnes gcw” on the cover of a 2016 UK brochure, covers the Atego and the Antos together. The construction range does the same at the heavy end: the Arocs product sheet gives permissible gross vehicle weight only as a span, 18 t to 41 t, no Mercedes-Benz page or sheet that opens gives a combination weight for the standard Arocs, and Mercedes’ instructions point to the vehicle’s own plate and its COC documents for it. Iveco’s European documents for the T-Way — its UK pages, the MY2024 brochure and the launch release — state no combination figure either; the ones we found, 44,000 kg and 60,000 kg, are printed as “Gross Combination Mass (Plated)” on IVECO Australia data sheets for named vehicles, not as a European plating. The MAN TGS shows the design-and-legal split inside a single document: MAN’s GB sheet for the 8×4 normal-height tipper prints 34,000 kg in its design column against 32,000 kg UK legal, and a rear bogie of 21,000 kg design against 19,000 kg legal.

National traffic is a different question entirely

Article 4(2) of the directive says member states “may nonetheless authorise” the circulation in their territory, for the national transport of goods, of vehicles that do not conform to points 2 and 3 of Annex I — the gross and axle weights — among others. The 40-tonne figure is a maximum for international traffic, not a universal one.

Sweden is one case. Trafikverket classifies roads and bridges by bearing capacity: BK1 permits up to 64 tonnes gross, BK2 51.4 tonnes, BK3 37.5 tonnes and BK4 up to 74 tonnes, in each case less depending on the vehicle’s axle spacing — and, on BK1 to BK3, its axle loads; BK4 keeps the axle-load requirements of BK1. Trafikverket adds that the higher weight generally takes more axles — 74 tonnes spread over nine axles against 64 tonnes on seven — and that combinations above 64 tonnes must also meet Transportstyrelsen’s requirements in TSFS 2018:40. Great Britain’s HGV road user levy is charged by revenue weight, a weight measure of its own, described in HGV road user levy.

The electric and gas exception

Annex I adds the extra weight of cleaner powertrains to the gross limits that Article 10b lists: up to one tonne for an alternatively fuelled vehicle and up to two tonnes for a zero-emission one. Article 10b sets out the mechanism — the additional weight is defined on the basis of the manufacturer’s documentation when the vehicle is approved, and indicated in the proof of compliance the vehicle carries under Article 6.

Two things about that allowance matter. It is compensation for the mass of the technology, not extra carrying capacity: Directive (EU) 2015/719, which introduced a first version of it for alternatively fuelled motor vehicles (Annex I points 2.3.1, 2.3.2 and 2.4), says the extra weight should not be counted as part of the vehicle’s effective load but “should not result in the load capacity of the vehicle being increased either”; Regulation (EU) 2019/1242, in Article 20, later extended the allowance to vehicle combinations and added the zero-emission allowance of up to two tonnes. And it does not move the axle limits: Article 10b says such vehicles “shall also comply with the maximum authorised axle weight limits set out in point 3 of Annex I”, so a battery-electric tractor still has 11.5 tonnes on a driving axle. Volvo, explaining its lightweight tag axle, says 4x2 tractors “are more sensitive to weight due to the restrictions that can be applied to the rear drive axle and fifth wheel”, and that on many electric 4x2 trucks the additional batteries “can reduce payload to around 20-22 tonnes – compared to 24-26 tonnes for a typical 4x2 diesel tractor”.

Manufacturers’ own figures sit on top of the rule. Mercedes-Benz’s premiere release of 10 October 2023 says the eActros 600 is “technically designed for a gross combination weight of up to 44 tons” and has “a payload of around 22 tons in the EU” with a standard semitrailer, adding: “In some cases, national law may permit a higher payload.”

The rules are also moving. The Commission published its proposal to revise the directive on 11 July 2023; Parliament adopted its position in March 2024, proposing four tonnes more for zero-emission trucks; and the Council agreed its general approach on 4 December 2025, under which zero-emission vehicles “may receive a weight bonus”, with different allowances for five- and six-axle vehicles, and “may also be up to 0.9 m longer”. Trilogue meetings started on 9 December 2025. Parliament’s Legislative Train, in its update of 1 August 2026, still lists the file as “Tabled”: none of those figures is law yet.

Loading to the axle limits

The 2014 guidelines start from the rule that “the maximum authorised dimensions, axle and gross weights must not be exceeded”, and add: “Minimum axle loads should also be considered to ensure adequate stability, steering and braking”. The tool they describe is a load distribution diagram, which they say “should be provided by the vehicle or body manufacturer” and which can also be calculated from the vehicle’s geometry, its minimum and maximum axle loads, the distribution of its tare over the axles and its maximum payload. Loading in accordance with it, in their words, “will help to not exceed the maximum permissible axle loads of the vehicle”. Read against Annex I, that means deciding where on the deck the heaviest load case sits and checking every axle against its maximum at that load, and against the minimum axle loads the guidelines mention — and, on Volvo’s account of an electric 4x2 unloading, checking it again as the deck empties.

The payload calculator takes these limits country by country and subtracts the vehicle’s tare to give the load it may carry. The axle load calculator shows how the position of a load on a two-axle rigid splits its weight between the front and rear axles.