HGV MOT Cost: Annual Test Fees for Lorries and Trailers

At a DVSA test centre an HGV annual test costs £112 for a 2-axle lorry, £144 for 3 axles and £177 for 4 or more. Trailers cost £51 to £84. A 44 tonne artic with a 3-axle tractor and a 3-axle trailer costs £228 a year, as at 28 October 2026.

How much is an HGV MOT?

The fee depends on the number of axles. The DVSA publishes its HGV and trailer test fees at DVSA test centres on gov.uk. The page was updated on 15 July 2026 and we read it on 28 October 2026. These are the annual test fees:

Vehicle	Annual test fee
HGV, 2 axles	£112
HGV, 3 axles	£144
HGV, 4 or more axles	£177
Trailer, 1 axle	£51
Trailer, 2 axles	£70
Trailer, 3 axles	£84
Trailer, 4 or 5 axles	£84

The fee follows the number of axles. An articulated tractor unit has no row of its own. It is charged as an HGV by its number of axles.

How much is a trailer MOT?

A trailer annual test costs £51 for 1 axle, £70 for 2 axles and £84 for 3, 4 or 5 axles at a DVSA test centre. That is the fee on the same DVSA page. A trailer is tested separately from the tractor unit pulling it, so an artic pays two fees each year, one for each vehicle.

How much is an HGV retest?

A retest within 14 days costs £69 for a 3-axle HGV and £91 for an HGV with 4 or more axles, and £25 to £46 for a trailer. The DVSA page lists a retest fee within 14 days and a part-paid retest fee. Here they are.

Vehicle	Retest within 14 days	Part-paid retest
HGV, 2 axles	£49	£13
HGV, 3 axles	£69	£13
HGV, 4 or more axles	£91	£13
Trailer, 1 axle	£25	£7
Trailer, 2 axles	£35	£7
Trailer, 3 axles	£46	£7
Trailer, 4 or 5 axles	£46	£7

For 3-axle and larger HGVs, and for every trailer, a retest after 14 days costs the same as the full annual test. A fail that you fix and bring back inside 14 days costs roughly half as much for HGVs. For a 3-axle HGV that is £69 against £144. We have left out the 2-axle HGV retest after 14 days, because the DVSA page shows two different figures in that cell.

What does a 44 tonne artic cost to test?

A 44 tonne artic with a 3-axle tractor unit and a 3-axle trailer costs £228 at a DVSA test centre. This is our arithmetic from the table above.

Item	Fee
3-axle tractor unit (tested as a 3-axle HGV)	£144
3-axle trailer	£84
Annual test, tractor and trailer	£228
Retest within 14 days, both fail	£69 + £46 = £115
Part-paid retest, both	£13 + £7 = £20

For a fleet of 10 such artics, each with one trailer, the annual test fees are £2,280. Spread over 80,000 miles a year, one artic’s £228 is about 0.29p a mile.

What is the cost at an authorised testing facility?

Some vehicles are tested at an authorised testing facility (ATF) instead of a DVSA test centre. The ATF test fee is lower, but the facility can add a service charge. The DVSA page for lorries and trailers at authorised testing facilities, updated on 15 July 2026, lists these fees:

Vehicle	ATF test fee	Retest within 14 days
HGV, 2 axles	£91	£35
HGV, 3 axles	£113	£49
HGV, 4 or more axles	£137	£65
Trailer, 1 axle	£41	not quoted
Trailer, 2 axles	£54	not quoted
Trailer, 3 to 5 axles	£64	not quoted

The same page gives a maximum service charge of £70 for an HGV and £50 for a trailer. The facility sets the charge, up to that cap, so ask yours what it charges. For the 44 tonne artic, the DVSA fees at an ATF are £113 + £64 = £177. With the maximum service charges of £70 and £50 on top, the most it could cost is £297, against £228 at a DVSA test centre. The ATF is cheaper only if its service charge is below £51 for the pair.

What else do you pay for each HGV every year?

The test is only one of the fixed costs. Vehicle tax and the HGV levy are charged by vehicle, and the operator licence is charged by licence. Our operator licence cost guide shows the licence fees per truck. The HGV running costs tool puts them together with fuel and other costs, per mile.

Fuel is the line that moves most. The Department for Transport stopped publishing HGV fuel consumption after 2016, when it recorded 7.9 mpg for artics over 33 tonnes. At that figure, 80,000 miles uses about 10,127 gallons. The test fee for the vehicle is a rounding error beside that. See what each mpg is worth to an HGV fleet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is an HGV MOT?

An HGV annual test at a DVSA test centre costs £112 for a 2-axle lorry, £144 for a 3-axle lorry and £177 for 4 or more axles. These are the DVSA fees as read on 28 October 2026. Trailers are charged separately.

How much is a trailer MOT?

A trailer annual test at a DVSA test centre costs £51 for 1 axle, £70 for 2 axles and £84 for 3, 4 or 5 axles. A trailer is tested and charged separately from the tractor unit.

How much is an HGV retest within 14 days?

At a DVSA test centre it is £49 for a 2-axle HGV, £69 for 3 axles and £91 for 4 or more axles. For trailers it is £25 for 1 axle, £35 for 2 axles and £46 for 3 to 5 axles. A part-paid retest is £13 for an HGV and £7 for a trailer.

How much does it cost to test a 44 tonne artic?

A 3-axle tractor unit costs £144 and a 3-axle trailer costs £84, so £228 at a DVSA test centre. If both fail and come back within 14 days, the two retests cost £115.

Is an HGV test cheaper at an authorised testing facility?

The test fee is lower, £113 for a 3-axle HGV against £144, but the facility can add a service charge of up to £70 for an HGV and £50 for a trailer. Ask the facility what it charges before you compare.

Cut your fleet’s fuel bill

Find your own cost per mile with the HGV running costs tool. It sets fixed costs like the annual test beside fuel, so you can see which line is worth working on.

For fuel, the Department for Transport’s fuel consumption curves show a diesel van using 14.5% less fuel per mile at 60 mph than at 68 mph. HGVs are already limited by law to 90 km/h, about 56 mph, so for lorries the fuel gain comes from holding that limit and driving at a steady speed. See HGV speed limiter law.

Talk to us. AutoKontrol has made speed limiters in Britain since 1985, for vans, cars, HGVs and buses, with nationwide installation where we come to you. Book a free consultation or get a quote.