News

Losing your Operator Licence is Purely Voluntary

The disciplinary issues I frequently have to contend with on behalf of clients are maintenance-related. When I compare the standards expected by Traffic Commissioners when I did my first disciplinary public inquiry 15 or more years ago to the standards of today, it is clear the requirements are far stricter than they used to be.

I am unofficially told that the motivating factor is ensuring vehicles do not break down and cause congestion. Congestion on our roads is a major issue for the Highways Agency which has conducted considerable research into the issue. What is to blame? Yes, of course, HGVs, especially the larger and slower moving ones.

Losing an Operator Licence is something that is entirely voluntary. The best way to lose a Licence is to operate more vehicles than you are entitled to, fail to regularly inspect your vehicles, have no systems in place for driver daily checks, operate overloaded vehicles, permit drivers to breach EU Drivers Hours legislation etcetera.

We run regular Operator Licensing Compliance Seminars, which explain the requirements of operator licensing and I commend this seminar to anyone who operates HGVs as well as to CPC holders and Transport Managers.

John Dyne, Director