Towing in Queensland

It comes down to the trailer's loaded weight (GTM). In Queensland:

GTM = the trailer's weight fully loaded, on its own wheels.

• Check your vehicle's maximum towing capacity in the owner's manual or on the plate, and don't exceed it.
• Count all the weight on the trip: passengers, tools, accessories (bars, racks, tanks), and the trailer's actual load.
• Towing changes how your car drives, slower to speed up and stop, heavier steering, more fuel. Allow for it.
• You can use a trailer with an ATM above your vehicle's rated capacity, as long as you don't load it past what your vehicle is rated to tow.
• Vehicle built before 1 January 1992 with no towing capacity specified? Use 1.5 times the vehicle's unloaded mass if the trailer has brakes, or a maximum of 750 kg if it doesn't.
• Not sure of the combined weight? Use a public weighbridge.

• The vehicle and trailer must both be roadworthy and registered.
• The trailer must show a lit, unobscured number plate, don't let accessories block it.
• All lights working: brake lights, indicators, tail lights.
• Only one trailer at a time, and no passengers in a trailer, ever.
• Safety chains: at least one (to Australian Standard) for trailers up to 2,500 kg ATM, two above that. Cross them under the coupling.
• Extended towing mirrors are required if the trailer is wider than your vehicle.

• Overloading is unsafe and illegal. Stay within the trailer's and your vehicle's mass limits.
• Aim for about 10% of the weight on the tow ball, keep heavy items low and forward of the axle.
• Secure the load in every direction with rated straps or chains.

• Speed: Queensland has no special towing speed limit for a light trailer, so stick to the posted limit and drive to the conditions. (The 100 km/h cap only applies to combinations over 4.5 tonnes.)
• Leave a bigger following gap, longer, heavier rigs need more room to stop, and even more in the wet.
• Accelerate, brake and steer smoothly to avoid sway, and use a lower gear downhill.
• Allow for the extra length and width, trailers cut in on turns.
• Overtake with plenty of room and don't cut back in early.
• Use a spotter or reversing camera when backing, and don't bank up traffic, pull over to let it past.

• In QLD, a trailer towed by a QLD-registered vehicle is generally covered by that vehicle's CTP, so it usually doesn't need its own. Check with your CTP insurer.
• Your own comprehensive cover can be void if the trailer is overloaded, unroadworthy, or towed beyond your vehicle's capacity. TrailerMates hire doesn't include insurance, so check your own cover if you want it.