Author: Zhihu User qnK63D
Link: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/434889687
Source: Zhihu
The copyright belongs to the author. For commercial reprints, please contact the author for authorization. For non commercial reprints, please indicate the source.
Pickups, a special type of vehicle, have always been used by many people as a tractor to tow RVs, small trailers, and so on, many of which are actually influenced by foreign pickup truck culture. However, there are actually many car models that do not have towing qualifications, and strictly speaking, they should be considered as "illegal towing". Since the Australian version of SAIC Maxus T70 became the first domestically produced pickup truck with towing qualifications, domestic enterprises have seemed to have gained insight and joined the towing qualification, making the pickup truck a truly traction vehicle. However, don't think that with towing qualifications, you can freely tow a trailer and run around. There are also some precautions that need your attention, and there are many regulations in the gray area that require extra caution. The software is ready, but the hardware may not be ready yet. Currently, many autonomous pickup trucks have added the quasi traction total mass when applying to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and with this number, it clearly indicates that this vehicle has traction qualifications. But it should be noted that it is not necessary to have towing qualifications to tow a trailer. This can only be said that the software part is clear, and the hardware part also needs to be clear. For example, very directly, what components are used to tow a trailer? The answer is obvious - trailer bar. When produced by the manufacturer, even if some pickup trucks have towing qualifications, they usually do not have the trailer bar, so there are many modification parts to choose from on the Taobao platform. These modified parts are similar, with both ends connected to the rear of the main beam and the middle protruding below the rear bumper. Some ports are trailer side ports for easy disassembly; Some are non removable trailer hooks, simple and practical. In fact, besides the trailer bar, there is another accessory that many car companies have not noticed, which is the trailer power supply. Because the trailer being towed should also have taillights, license plates, etc. in accordance with laws and regulations, the power supply of the trailer should be connected to the front pickup truck, and the light source should be turned on and off and have the same warning function as the main vehicle. Therefore, the trailer power supply has become one of the necessary accessories, which is also a requirement clearly stipulated in the recently released General Technical Conditions for Multipurpose Trucks. However, few domestic pickup trucks with towing qualifications have noticed this. The Great Wall Cannon off-road pickup truck comes with a trailer power supply, which is worthy of praise. What to pay attention to when driving? With towing qualifications, hitching a small trailer or RV, humming a tune and driving the car to explore the world should be what many pickup truck enthusiasts want to do. However, I believe many drivers have never driven a trailer and do not know the difference between towing a trailer and driving a regular bicycle. The most important and worrisome issue among them is the issue of internal wheel deviation. Due to the presence of an "axle" between the main vehicle and the trailer, the turning radius of the two vehicles is different when turning, and the turning radius of the rear trailer is smaller, which can cause inner wheel differences. This situation is more pronounced on vehicles with a longer wheelbase. So when driving a pickup truck with a trailer turning, you should try to make the pickup truck turn larger and leave enough turning space for the trailer behind. If driving a pickup truck or trailer for a long journey, running on the highway is also essential, which involves the issue of fees. At present, the charging standards in each region are not very uniform, and the types of vehicles are also not very uniform. Let's take the Beijing Harbin Expressway in Beijing as an example. There are very obvious signs at toll booths, which clearly state that "freight trains are determined by the total number of axles of the tractor and trailer, and the charging standards are determined." That is to say, domestic pickup trucks generally have two axles, front and rear. If the trailer only has one axle, then the overall model is a three axle model; If it is a dual axle trailer RV, then the overall design should be considered as a four axle, and so on. The question of what kind of driver's license is required to operate a pickup truck trailer is actually the most frequently asked aspect, and there is currently no official unified answer. The reason for this is that due to the current legal gap in the field of pickup truck towing trailers, law enforcement is also in a gray area. At present, among the approved driving models in China, the driving qualification with the code A2 can drive tractors, including heavy-duty, medium full trailer, and semi trailer trains, but does not include the light truck trains that currently belong to pickup trucks. And other driving qualifications do not include trains (i.e. towing). If understood in this way, A2 is necessary to drive a pickup truck trailer, and even passenger car trailers require A2 driving qualifications. Obviously, such a request is unlikely and unreasonable. Referring to the Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, Article 56 stipulates that motor vehicles towing trailers shall comply with the following provisions: (1) Cargo trucks, semi-trailer tractors, and tractors are only allowed to tow one trailer. The lighting signal, braking, connection, safety protection and other devices of the trailer shall comply with national standards; （2） Small passenger vehicles are only allowed to tow recreational trailers or trailers with a total weight of less than 700 kilograms. Trailers are not allowed to carry people; （3） The load capacity of the trailer towed by a cargo vehicle shall not exceed the load capacity of the cargo vehicle itself. Large and medium-sized passenger vehicles, low-speed cargo vehicles, three wheeled vehicles, and other motor vehicles are not allowed to tow trailers. This also stipulates that the trucks and small passenger vehicles (passenger cars) to which the pickup truck belongs can tow trailers, but this cannot complement and correspond with the above driving qualifications. This creates the dilemma of "pickup trucks can be towed, but no one can drive them (except for A2)", which leads to the current gray area in law enforcement. Therefore, considering the above two regulations comprehensively, currently logically, as long as one has the C1 and C2 qualifications to drive a pickup truck (light truck), they can drive a pickup truck trailer (C2 must drive an automatic pickup truck). Of course, law enforcement agencies in different regions may have different interpretations and varying degrees of leniency. In addition, as far as we know, at the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Regulations on the Application and Use of Motor Vehicle Driver's Licenses (Revised Draft for Comments)", which clearly stated that light tractor trailers require a C6 driver's license. But when the new policy will be implemented is still unknown, so the driving qualifications required for pickup truck towing will still be in the gray area for a period of time. Summary: Pickup trucks and trailers are actually a new thing for domestic car users. At present, they are going through a process of "going from nothing to something", and all aspects are not very perfect, to the extent that they are relatively vague when used and managed. But overall, the towing of pickup trucks is feasible now and in the future, and with the General Technical Conditions for Multipurpose Trucks and the revised Regulations on the Application and Use of Motor Vehicle Driving Licenses in the future, pickup truck towing can be more free and management more standardized.