The Club Permit Scheme covers far more than cars. Buses, campervans, caravans, trailers, trucks and road-going machinery all qualify in their own right, under the same 25 year age rule. What changes between them is the VicRoads fee and where you keep the logbook. Most clubs will not sign for these. We will.
- What is covered
- Buses, campervans, caravans, trailers, trucks, tractors and road-going farm equipment
- Age requirement
- More than 25 years, measured by compliance plate date
- VicRoads fee, motorised
- $91.50 a year for 45 days, $176.40 for 90 days. Buses, motorhomes and trucks
- VicRoads fee, trailers
- $31.00 a year for 45 days, $58.70 for 90 days. No TAC charge applies
- Traf's Club membership
- $5 first year, then $50 a year. Separate from the VicRoads fee
- Trailer logbook
- Carried on you rather than on the trailer
- Commercial use
- Not permitted for hire or reward
Buses, coaches and Kombis
Old buses are one of the more common things we sign that other clubs turn away. Bedfords, Dennings, school buses, Kombis and the coaches that keep turning up at shows are all eligible on the same terms as anything else: more than 25 years old, measured from the compliance plate rather than the build date.
That puts anything built in 2001 or earlier inside the window as of 2026, and the window moves forward every year.
Converted buses and motorhomes
A converted bus is where it gets more involved, and worth sorting out before you apply rather than after.
If the conversion changed the vehicle structurally, or changed what VicRoads has recorded it as, you will usually need a Vehicle Assessment Signatory Scheme (VASS) approval certificate. That is the same test applied to any modification beyond the VicRoads Vehicle Standards Information allowances, VSI 8 and VSI 33. If the work was done years ago and you still hold the original VASS certificate or blue VASS plate, and nothing has changed since, you generally do not need a new one.
Licence class is a separate question and depends on the vehicle's weight and seating rather than on the permit. Worth confirming what your licence covers before you buy something large.
Caravans and trailers
A caravan or trailer has no cabin to keep paperwork in, so the logbook rule adjusts the same way it does for a motorcycle: the logbook is carried on you, not on the trailer.
Everything else about the logbook is unchanged. An entry for every calendar day you tow it more than 100 metres from its garage address, filled in before the journey rather than after, in non-erasable blue or black pen, one entry per day however many trips you make.
Trucks, tractors and machinery
Trucks are eligible on the same age basis. So are mobile plant and machinery, which takes in tractors and road-going farm equipment. These come through less often than buses, but the scheme covers them and we will sign for them.
What VicRoads charges
Two different scales, depending on whether the thing has an engine. These are VicRoads fees, set by them and paid to them. All figures as of July 2026.
Buses, campervans, motorhomes and trucks
Charged as motor vehicles, exactly the same as a car:
| 45-day | 90-day | |
|---|---|---|
| TAC | $60.50 | $117.70 |
| Permit | $27.60 | $55.30 |
| Logbook | $3.40 | $3.40 |
| Total a year | $91.50 | $176.40 |
Plus a one-off $44.20 to VicRoads for a set of two plates when the permit is first issued, or $215 for slimline plates.
Caravans and trailers
Considerably cheaper, because no TAC charge applies. A trailer is not separately insured for injury the way a powered vehicle is, so that component drops out entirely:
| 45-day | 90-day | |
|---|---|---|
| Permit | $27.60 | $55.30 |
| Logbook | $3.40 | $3.40 |
| Total a year | $31.00 | $58.70 |
Plus a one-off $22.10 to VicRoads for the plate. One plate rather than two, so half what a car pays, and slimline is not an option.
That makes a vintage caravan on a 45-day permit about a third the annual cost of a car on the same permit. If you have both, the caravan is the cheap part.
What Traf's Club charges
Club membership is entirely separate from the VicRoads fees above, and it is the same whatever you are permitting. $5 for your first year, then $50 a year, with additional vehicles at $10 each.
The commercial use rule
Worth being direct about, because it matters more for this category than any other.
A club permit vehicle cannot be used for hire or reward for the carriage of goods. An old truck on club plates is for shows, runs, preservation and your own use. The moment it is carting goods for payment, it falls outside what the permit allows.
The same thinking applies to buses. Driving your own bus to a wedding, a show or a run is ordinary use. Running paid charters or a shuttle service is commercial, and a limited-use permit is not the right registration for it. If you are planning anything involving paying passengers, confirm it with VicRoads before you commit, because the consequences of getting it wrong sit with you rather than with the club.
Everything else is open. You are not restricted to club events, and any leisure use counts.
If the form does not fit your vehicle
Our online application is built around cars and bikes, because that is most of what comes through. For a bus, a caravan, a trailer or a tractor it may not ask the right questions.
That is not a problem. Get in touch directly and we will walk you through exactly what VicRoads needs for your specific vehicle, and build the paperwork around it. Text or call Ben on 0433 88 33 88.
Vehicles recorded as a statutory write-off on the Victorian or any interstate register cannot be issued a club permit, regardless of age or condition. Worth checking with a VicRoads Vehicle Report before buying an ex-fleet or ex-farm machine.
Got something the other clubs will not sign?
Traf's Club handles buses, campervans, caravans, trailers and machinery the same as anything else. Online, no compulsory meetings, $5 for your first year.