Van payload, GVW and the overloading trap: a used-buyer's guide
How GVW, kerb weight and payload fit together on a used van, why plated figures beat brochure claims, and checks that stop you buying an overloading problem.
The three numbers that matter
Every van listing worth reading turns on three weights, and most adverts state at most one of them.
Gross vehicle weight (GVW), also written as maximum authorised mass (MAM) or gross plated weight, is the maximum the van is legally allowed to weigh in total: vehicle, fuel, driver, passengers, racking, and everything in the load space. It is a legal ceiling stamped on a plate, not a suggestion.
Kerb weight is what the van weighs sitting on the forecourt. Manufacturers measure it slightly differently (some include a 75 kg driver and 90 per cent fuel, some do not), which matters more than it sounds, because the third number is derived from it.
Payload is, roughly, GVW minus kerb weight. It is the only number that tells you what the van can actually carry, and it is the one adverts most often get wrong, round up, or copy from the wrong variant.
A worked example: a panel van plated at 3,500 kg with a kerb weight of 2,380 kg has a nominal payload of 1,120 kg. Put two 85 kg occupants in it and, if the kerb figure excluded the driver, you are down to about 950 kg before a single tool goes in the back.
Where the real figures live
Ignore the advert until you have seen the plate. Every van carries a manufacturer's plate (usually in the driver's door aperture, on the door pillar, under the bonnet, or on the seat base) with four figures stacked in order: gross vehicle weight, gross train weight, maximum front axle load, maximum rear axle load. Some converted or re-plated vans carry a second plate from the converter or a plating company, and where the two disagree, the lower and later figure governs.
The V5C registration document records a revenue weight, which for most vans matches the plated GVW. If the V5C, the plate and the advert all say different things, treat that as a question for the seller, in writing, before you travel.
Why almost every big van says 3,500 kg
A standard category B car licence covers vehicles up to 3,500 kg MAM. Cross that line and you need C1 or C entitlement, driver CPC rules start to loom for commercial use, and the pool of people who can legally drive the van shrinks dramatically. So manufacturers plate the overwhelming majority of large vans sold in the UK at exactly 3,500 kg, even where the same bodyshell is engineered for 4,000 kg or more elsewhere in the range.
The consequence is a squeeze that catches buyers out constantly: the bigger and heavier the body, the less payload fits under the same 3,500 kg ceiling. A long-wheelbase, high-roof variant can carry several hundred kilograms less than the short, low version of the same van, because the extra metal is part of the weight budget. Luton bodies are the extreme case: a 3.5 tonne Luton with a box body and a tail-lift can end up with a genuine payload well under 1,000 kg, sometimes far under, despite looking like it should swallow a house move.
The payload that quietly disappears
Brochure payload figures are calculated for the lightest possible build: base trim, smallest engine, no options, no conversion. A used van has a history of additions, and every one of them comes off the payload.
Ply-lining a load space typically adds tens of kilograms; a full kit on a large van can pass 100 kg. Professional racking systems commonly weigh 100 to 300 kg installed. A cantilever or column tail-lift adds roughly 250 to 350 kg. A crew-van conversion (second seat row, extra bulkhead, trimmed load area) takes a similar bite, and the extra passengers it enables count against payload too. Roof racks, pipe carriers, second batteries, inverters, tow bars: all of it is weight the plate does not know about but the weighbridge will.
Run the arithmetic on a typical example. A van advertised with a 1,200 kg brochure payload, fitted with ply-lining (100 kg), a racking system (200 kg) and a tow bar with associated wiring (30 kg), carrying a driver and one passenger (170 kg), has about 700 kg of genuinely usable payload left. That is a very different van from the one in the advert, and nothing about it looks different in the photos.
This is why a seller's claimed payload should never be taken from a brochure or a listing template. The honest answer to "what is the payload" for a used, converted van is: plated GVW minus what it actually weighs today, which only a weighbridge knows.
What overloading actually costs
DVSA runs roadside enforcement with portable axle scales and check sites near weighbridges, and ANPR is used to flag vans for stops. If the van is over its plated weights, the scheme is graduated: fixed penalties scale in bands with the percentage overweight, and at the serious end the case goes to court rather than a roadside ticket. Separately from any fine, an overloaded vehicle can be issued a prohibition: it does not move until enough load is removed to make it legal, wherever that leaves you and your delivery.
There are quieter costs too. An overloaded van is an overloaded braking system, overloaded tyres, and a potential insurance argument after a collision. If you are buying a van for work, the realistic payload is not a nice-to-have specification, it is the difference between a legal working day and a roadside one.
Axles have limits too
The plate carries separate maxima for each axle, and you can be under the gross limit while over an axle limit. It happens easily: load something heavy right at the back, behind the rear axle line, and the load acts like a seesaw, pressing the rear axle past its limit while actually lightening the front. DVSA checks axles individually, so when you visit a weighbridge, weigh each axle as well as the whole van, loaded the way you actually intend to load it.
Towing and gross train weight
The second figure on the plate is gross train weight (GTW): the maximum combined weight of the loaded van and a loaded trailer. Towing capacity is not free extra capacity on top of payload. If GTW is 6,000 kg, the van is plated at 3,500 kg and you hitch a 2,800 kg trailer, the van itself may now only run at 3,200 kg all-in, which cuts payload. Trailer nose weight also presses down on the rear axle and counts against the van's own weights. If towing is part of the plan, check the braked towing capacity and the GTW before falling for a particular van, because they vary widely between engine and axle-ratio variants of the same model.
Double-cab pickups and the 1,000 kg line
Payload has a tax dimension for one specific body style. A double-cab pickup has historically been treated as a commercial vehicle for VAT purposes only if its payload is at least 1,000 kg, with a hardtop counted at a nominal 45 kg under HMRC convention, so a 1,020 kg payload pickup can fail the test once a hardtop goes on. Since April 2025 double-cab pickups are treated as cars for benefit-in-kind and capital allowance purposes regardless of payload, but the 1,000 kg test still matters for VAT recovery. If you are weighing up a pickup against a van, the payload figure on the plate can change what the price actually costs you. CompareForecourt has a separate guide on VAT labels on listings that covers the price side in detail.
Checks before you contact the seller
Before travelling, get three things in writing: the plated GVW, the seller's stated payload, and whether that payload figure accounts for the racking, lining or conversion the photos show. A seller who quotes the brochure figure for a fully racked van either has not thought about it or hopes you will not.
At the viewing, photograph the plate and compare it against the V5C revenue weight and the advert. Look for a converter's plate or evidence of downplating: ex-fleet vans are sometimes re-plated to a lower GVW, which legally shrinks the payload however strong the van underneath is.
Before committing, or immediately after purchase, put the van over a public weighbridge empty. The ticket costs a few pounds and gives you the one number nobody can argue with: what the van weighs today. Subtract that from the plated GVW and you have the real payload, per axle if you weigh it properly. If that number does not support the work you bought the van for, better to know in the first week than at a roadside check.
How CompareForecourt handles it
Where an advert states payload or gross vehicle weight, the extractor captures them as structured fields against a per-category spec, so a claimed figure is recorded rather than buried in free text. Each listing gets a completeness score that flags missing decision-relevant fields, and payload is a core field for commercial vehicles, so a van advert that never mentions it is marked as incomplete rather than silently passed through. VAT status is shown as a chip with an inc-VAT total, so the price you compare is the price you would pay. And vans are compared against other vans, never against cars, so a payload column is always read against vehicles where it means the same thing.