1) What driving license category do I need to drive a car with a trailer? To use a trailer which maximum weight is not more than 750 kg (Kurgan trailers), you only need a category “B” driving license.
2) What cars can I use the trailer with? You can use Kurgan trailers with all the cars allowing towage of a trailer. At the same time the trailer’s total weight must not exceed the weight allowed by the producer factory.
3) How should I equip my car to use a trailer? To use a trailer you should mount a tow hitch with electric wiring for light devices on your car.
4) How to choose a car trailer? First, you should understand what you are going to use the trailer for. You can use it either for cargo transportation such as construction materials, firewood, furniture or for snowmobiles, personal watercrafts and ATV transportation. Specialists in salons can give you an advice on what trailer fits your needs. Second, you should find the item “Maximum gross weight of the towing trailer equipped/not equipped with brakes” in your car owner’s manual. You can find this information in the Internet or call a dealer centre. The information is provided on the producer factory’s plate placed on the car.
5) What are the peculiarities of driving a car with a trailer? The charged trailer reduces the speed dynamics of the car and extends the braking distance. This is what you should take into account when outrunning and braking. You should brake slowly regardless of having an empty or loaded trailer. You should keep a distance from the car ahead, you’d better brake gradually. You should reduce speed in advance. Jerks while braking, especially while turning, can lead to trailer or car sideslip and their folding. If the speed is high, the trailer is swaying. Outside the city the speed of the car with a trailer should be 20 km/h less. The speed on motorways should be less than 90 km/h, on other roads – not more than 70 km/h. Maneuvering and parking in the city become more complicated when driving with a trailer. Reverse driving is especially difficult. Trailers with high awnings worsen rear view. You should be especially careful when driving with a trailer with high awning in conditions of hard wind.
6) How to load the trailer right? You should distribute the cargo evenly in the way that the cargo’s centre of gravity is above the axis (in single-axis trailers) or between the axis (in biaxial trailers). Shift of the cargo to the front will increase the load on the trailer coupling and the whole back side of the car, which reduces the grip of the wheels with the road. Shift of the cargo to the back will lead to lifting the back side of the car, which dramatically worsens the controllability of the car.
7) Can the cargo go beyond the trailer’s overall dimensions? According to the article 23 of the driving regulations of the Russian Federation, the cargo must not jut out more than 2 m, must not be more than 2,55 m in width, the height of the trailer with the cargo must not be more than 4 m from the road. The cargo that juts out the dimensions of the car by more than 1m (or by more than 0.4 m from the rim of the parking lights), should be marked with the “bulky cargo” sign, and with a lamp or white cat’s eye in the front and with a lamp or red cat’s eye in the back in the dark or lack of visibility.
8) Do I have to put winter/summer tyres on the trailer? You don’t have to do it in Russia. Most of the trailers, especially manufactured in Russia, are supplied with all-year-round tyres. When purchasing a trailer, you should choose the trailer with the wheels of the same radius as on your car. Our trailers are supplied with the wheels of 13, 14, 15, 16 radius.
9) How much does fuel consumption increase? At the average, the fuel consumption increases by 5 to 15%. But again, it depends much on the proportion between the weight of the car and the trailer. The conditions of driving also influence fuel consumption (distance in kilometers in the city and in the country). You should also take into account the weight of the cargo, as the full loaded trailer requires much effort of the truck tractor, and, consequently, increase in fuel consumption.
10) Am I obliged to register the trailer in State Road Traffic Safety Inspection (SRTSI)? Yes. The trailer must be registered in the domiciliary STRTI. Within the purchase you are given a vehicle certificate and the sale contract is made. The sale contract is a document which confirms the right of ownership. Within registering, the owner is given a certificate and a license plate.
11) Do I have to pass the official examination of the trailer? Yes. Trailers have to pass the official examination one in 2 years, if they were manufactured not more than 5 years ago (including the year of producing), and once a year if it was manufactured more than 5 years ago. Generally, the owners pass the examination of their car and trailer simultaneously.
12) Do I have to insure my trailer? OMI (obligatory motor insurance) is not required for natural person. You can take comprehensive insurance. This kind of insurance policy will cost you at average 2% of the trailer cost against damage, and 0,5% against theft.
