What does the no heavy trucks sign mean?

This sign is posted at the start of a residential street. Who does it apply to?

Heavy trucks, which have to use another route

The restriction is aimed at heavy vehicles whose weight, noise and turning circle do not suit the street. Cars and light local traffic are not what the sign is about, and where hours or exceptions apply a plate under the sign says so.

You are driving a loaded moving truck and this sign is posted at the start of a residential street on your route. What should you do?

Take another way around, since heavy trucks are not permitted here

The sign keeps heavy vehicles off roads that cannot carry their weight or where their turning circle and noise do not fit, and it applies to the vehicle you are driving rather than to the job you are doing. Where a local delivery exception exists, a tab under the sign says so.

You are driving a car and this sign faces you at the start of a residential street. What does it mean for you?

You may use the street, because the restriction is on heavy trucks

The sign keeps heavy trucks off a road that cannot carry their weight or should not take their noise and turning circles. A private car is not what it restricts. Read every restriction sign for the vehicle or movement pictured in it, because the ring and the slash on their own only tell you that something is forbidden.

You are driving a heavy truck and this sign is posted where your route turns onto a residential street. What must you do?

Take a route that does not use this street

The sign keeps heavy vehicles off roads that cannot take their weight, their turning circle or their noise, and it applies to the vehicle rather than to the errand. Where local deliveries are allowed, that permission is spelled out on a plate under the sign. If nothing says so, the street is closed to you.

The navigation app in the cab sends you down a street where this sign is posted at the entrance.

Do not turn in, and find a route that is open to your vehicle

A device set up for a car knows nothing about your height, weight or length, and it will happily send you under a low structure or onto a road closed to heavy vehicles. The route is the driver's responsibility, not the device's. Plan a truck route before you leave, and believe the sign when the screen disagrees with it.

This sign faces you at the entrance to a road, and your route planner has picked it as the shortest way through.

Stay off it and find a route that suits your vehicle

A road closed to heavy vehicles is usually closed because of something the road itself cannot take, such as a weak structure, a tight corner or a grade a long vehicle cannot climb or descend safely. Route planners choose by distance and rarely know your height, weight or length. Where a delivery sits on a restricted road, the way in is arranged with the authority rather than assumed.