Light commercial vehicle

A light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the European Union is a commercial vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 metric tons (tonnes) or no more than 4.5 tonnes in Australia and New Zealand. The LCV designation is also occasionally used in both Canada and Ireland (where the term commercial van is more commonly used).

In the UK, light haulage is a restricted-weight delivery service where the maximum permitted gross vehicle weight rating without the need of an operator's license is also up to 3.5 tonnes. Usually light haulage excludes a distribution center as most deliveries are direct. A delivery may consist of a single, multiple or priority urgent load and can be either same-day or next-day delivery. The vehicle (as long as its gross vehicle weight doesn't exceed the 3.5 t limit) does not require a tachograph and can also be driven by people with a regular car license without the need for an operator's license. The speed restriction is higher than for heavy goods vehicles: 60 mph (97 km/h) on dual carriageways and up to 70 mph (113 km/h) on motorways.

Qualifying light commercial vehicles include pickup trucks, vans and three-wheelers – all commercial goods or passenger-carrying vehicles. The LCV concept was created as a compact truck and is usually optimised to be tough-built, have low operating costs and powerful yet fuel-efficient engines, and to be used in intra-city operations.