Ask most HGV drivers what the speed limit is and they'll tell you 56 mph. That's the speed limiter. It's not a speed limit — it's a mechanical restriction, and confusing the two has cost people fixed penalties and points.
The legal speed limits for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes in the UK are set by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and its subsequent schedules. The speed limiter requirement is a separate piece of legislation entirely — EU regulation retained in UK law, administered by DVSA under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations. They exist in parallel. Neither one makes the other irrelevant.
Here's the breakdown by road type, because the numbers vary, and because getting them wrong in the wrong place is an easy £100 and three points.
Motorway: 60 mph for vehicles over 7.5 tonnes
The national speed limit for a goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes on a motorway is 60 mph. Not 70. Cars and light vehicles run at 70 mph on the motorway — the same 70 mph national limit you see on the white circular sign with a diagonal stripe. Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes have a lower limit: 60 mph, which you're expected to know without a sign reminding you of it.
Now here's where the limiter comes in. Most HGVs over 3.5 tonnes registered after a certain date are required to have a speed limiter set to 90 km/h — that's approximately 56 mph. So if your vehicle is limited at 56 mph, you physically can't reach 60 mph on the motorway. You're automatically compliant with the motorway limit, because the limiter prevents the breach before it happens.
But the limiter is set to 90 km/h for vehicles required to have one. Not all goods vehicles are required to have limiters. And 90 km/h isn't 60 mph — it's 55.9 mph, which means there's a small gap between the legal limit (60 mph) and the limiter setting (56 mph). If your limiter is miscalibrated and actually lets you reach 62 mph, the limit still says 60 mph. The limiter doesn't define the law. The law defines the law.
Dual carriageway: 60 mph
Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on a dual carriageway: 60 mph. Same as the motorway limit, but dual carriageways catch people out more often because the road classification isn't always obvious. Dual carriageway means two separate carriageways divided by a central reservation — not just a road with two lanes of traffic each way. A four-lane single carriageway with a hatching in the middle is still a single carriageway for speed limit purposes.
If there's a physical barrier or raised kerb between opposing traffic flows, you're likely on a dual carriageway. If both flows of traffic share the same strip of tarmac, you're on a single carriageway regardless of how many lanes there are. That distinction matters because the limit on single carriageway is lower.
Single carriageway: 50 mph for vehicles over 7.5 tonnes
This is where drivers get caught. The national speed limit on a single carriageway for a goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes is 50 mph — not 60, not 56. Fifty.
When you see the national speed limit sign on a single carriageway — white circle, diagonal black stripe — a car driver reads it as 60 mph. A goods driver over 7.5 tonnes reads it as 50 mph. Same sign. Different limit. This isn't intuitive, especially if you're passing your Class 1 test and nobody has spelled it out clearly.
Took me longer than I'd like to admit to genuinely internalise this. I'd been driving HGV for about eighteen months and still occasionally felt like I should be doing 60 on a national-limit A-road behind a car sitting at 60. I wasn't. My limit was 50. The car was fine. I was 10 mph over a fixed penalty threshold.
Built-up areas
In built-up areas — roads with street lighting — the limit for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes is 30 mph in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In Wales, where 20 mph became the default national limit in built-up areas in September 2023, it's 20 mph unless signs indicate otherwise.
The 30 mph built-up area limit applies to HGVs the same as it does to cars. There's no lower limit specific to goods vehicles in built-up areas — you're at the same limit as everything else. What changes is the consequences of being caught: an HGV driver losing points for a speeding offence is also potentially affecting their driver CPC, their ability to work agency, and the O-licence record of the fleet they work for.
Local speed limits and signs
Where there's a local speed limit sign — the red-and-white circle with a number — it overrides the national limit for all vehicles. A 40 mph limit on a dual carriageway means 40 mph for your artic, same as for everything else. Local speed limits signed in this way apply regardless of vehicle category.
Some roads also have signs specifically limiting the speed of goods vehicles — circular white signs with a lorry symbol and a number. These are less common but you do see them on some rural routes and near sensitive areas. Those limits are specific to goods vehicles and you comply with them even if the general national limit for the road is higher.
The speed limiter requirement
Under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass that were first registered from 1 January 1988 are generally required to have a speed limiter fitted. The limiter must restrict the vehicle to 90 km/h. Vehicles used primarily for the carriage of passengers of more than 7.5 tonnes are required to have limiters set at 100 km/h.
There are exemptions — vehicles used for national security, emergency services, certain other categories. Most standard commercial goods vehicles aren't in an exemption category.
The limiter doesn't get adjusted for road type. It's a constant: 90 km/h regardless of whether you're on a motorway (where 60 mph is legal), a dual carriageway (60 mph), or a single carriageway (50 mph). On single carriageway, the limiter at 56 mph theoretically permits you to run at 56 mph — 6 mph above the legal limit. The limiter doesn't know what road you're on. It's your job to know the limit and comply with the lower of the two.
GPS tracking and what it means for speed compliance
Most fleet vehicles now run telematics — GPS tracking systems that log speed data. This data is available to the fleet operator and potentially to DVSA if they request it under an investigation or at a Traffic Commissioner hearing. A driver who is consistently exceeding the 50 mph single carriageway limit because the limiter doesn't prevent it will leave a telematics trail.
I've heard of drivers dismissed over telematics evidence of habitual speeding on A-roads — not because they were stopped at the time, but because the data was reviewed during a routine compliance audit. The TM pulls the reports, sees weeks of 55 mph on national-limit single carriageways, and has a documented pattern of legal non-compliance.
If you're tramping and spending time on rural A-roads rather than motorways, the single carriageway 50 mph limit is the one that matters most. The limiter isn't protecting you on those roads. It's your awareness that does.
Fixed penalties for speed offences
A fixed penalty for a speed offence in England and Wales is typically £100 and three penalty points for a first offence below the threshold for a court summons. The prosecution threshold for summons varies by the degree of excess speed. At higher excesses — significantly above the limit — the case goes to court and the consequences are potentially more serious: higher fine, more points, potentially disqualification.
For HGV drivers, losing a licence means losing your livelihood. Three points on the card affects future employment decisions — some agencies and operators won't take drivers with current endorsements. And a pattern of road traffic offences on an O-licence fleet's record affects OCRS and, through it, Traffic Commissioner scrutiny.
The speed limits for HGV are lower than most drivers remember from their car experience. On motorway: 60 mph. On dual carriageway: 60 mph. On single carriageway: 50 mph. The limiter keeps you under 56 mph on the motorway — it doesn't actively keep you under 50 mph on the A-road. That's on you.
Keeping driver hours, rest periods, and WTD compliance in order is one part of the compliance picture — ShiftOwt handles that automatically for £5.99 a month. Speed compliance is simpler: know the road type, know the limit, and don't assume the limiter is doing the work for you.