Theory Mastery

Sign C20: Closed to vehicles whose axle load is higher than indicated

C20 – Closed to vehicles whose axle load is higher than indicated

Series: C -- Closed to traffic

Legal meaning

Closed to vehicles whose axle load exceeds the value indicated on the sign.

Source: RVV 1990 annex 1 · checked 2026-10-23

Shape and colour

Round white sign with a red rim, a black axle with wheels and a number in tonnes: closed to vehicles with a higher axle load.

Where the sign stands

Just before the bridge or stretch that cannot bear the axle load, on the right; often pre-announced at the last turn-off.

What the exam asks about this sign

The exam asks what axle load is: the weight one axle puts on the road, not the total mass. A heavy vehicle with many axles may pass, a lighter one with one heavily loaded axle may not. Trap: candidates read it as 'total mass' and then pick sign C21.

Exam question on this sign

Near Alkmaar you approach, in your truck, a road with sign C21 showing 15 t. Your registration certificate states a permitted maximum mass of 18 t. On the weighbridge today your loaded truck weighed 13 t, of which 9 t on the rear axle. Which weight do you compare with the 15 t on the sign?

  1. The 18 t stated as permitted maximum mass on your registration certificate
  2. The 13 t the weighbridge showed today for the whole truck
  3. The 9 t the weighbridge showed today on the most heavily loaded axle
Show the answer

Correct answer: The 13 t the weighbridge showed today for the whole truck

False — you read C21 as a sign for the mass per axle. A per-axle limit belongs to sign C20; sign C21 is about the total actual mass, the sum of all axle loads.

Why learners get this wrong: Sign C21 looks at the permitted maximum mass on the registration certificate, not at what is actually in the car that day.

Open this question

Often confused with

Signs in the same series

Topics that use this sign

Open in the app