Operator Licensing - How to apply for a Goods Vehicle Operator Licence

Now that we have a change of government in the UK it is to be hoped that business will at least consider planning for the future again. This may well lead to either companies or individuals deciding that they need to operate their own trucks (i.e. commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonne gross vehicle weight), but it is more important than ever that applying for a goods vehicle operator licence is not actioned until all the requirements have been confirmed and the ongoing standing and running costs budgeted for.

It is vital that the following questions are asked before any forms have been completed and any cheques written:  

1. Do we really need to run our own truck or fleet of trucks? Or, would it be more cost effective, taking into account the high levels of mandatory compliance that needs to be adhered to when a company is authorised to operate its own commercial vehicles, to enter into a long term contract with a third party provider of haulage?
2. If we do need our own truck or trucks, what type of operator licence do we require?
3. How many vehicles and trailers will we need, including a margin for the future?
4. Have we got somewhere environmentally suitable to park the vehicles and trailers?
5. Have we got someone to competently carry out regular preventative maintenance and satisfactory inspections on the vehicles and trailers we will be using?
6. Do we have the required level of 'financial standing' that the Traffic Commissioner needs clear evidence of before he will even consider granting us a licence?
7. Do we employ someone who has detailed and up to date knowledge of drivers' hours to ensure compliance with the drivers hours and record keeping regulations? If not, can we afford to take someone else onto the staff who does, or invest in training for an existing member of staff?
8. Do we employ someone with an understanding of the requirements of operating a safe and compliant fleet of trucks?  If not, can we afford to take someone onto the staff who does? Alternatively, can we afford to invest in training for an existing member of staff?
9. Will we be able to source professional vocational truck drivers with the required competence and qualifications? If we can, can we afford to invest in their continual professional development and have the resource to add them to our workforce?
10. If we are granted an 'O' licence by the Traffic Commissioner do we have the expertise to source a vehicle or vehicles that will meet our needs and have we the capacity in the budget to cover the standing and running costs of the vehicle or vehicles on a long term basis?

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Why do you require an operators licence?'

You may have already spent a great deal of time considering the question of whether or not you really need to run your own truck or trucks before you got as far as checking out websites such as this one.  However, it is still worth once more going through all your reasons and figures before you begin on the application route.

 It's a big step applying for an 'O' licence.... if someone has offered you a contract to move goods for them if you buy a truck make sure you are not taking over a role that they couldn't make a profit at themselves....... if you've got goods to move and others won't move them at the price you expect don't decide you could do it cheaper yourself until you've checked and re-checked your figures...... trucks and trailers are cheap to buy at the moment, but don't be fooled into thinking you can make a killing by buying cheap and running at cheap rates! 2009 was a hard year for most who are in business and running trucks is an expensive and regulation heavy sector at the best of times. With increases in all areas of tax already flagged by the Chancellor for 2010 and beyond you really need to be sure that you are going to make a profit!  Lots of operators turn over money, but not so many hang on to some of that money when all the bills are paid! A favourite saying of one of my clients who is running a fleet of tankers is "It's easy to be a busy fool, but it's bl**dy hard to be a profitable haulier!"

Application Fee: £250.00

Advertisement:  £250.00+?

Be aware that to apply for a goods vehicle operator licence, irrespective of how many vehicles and trailers you want to specify, it will cost you £250.00, payable to 'VOSA'.  This fee is not refundable, so, should you decide half way through the process that you don't want to go on, £250.00 is lost, you won't get it back.

You are required to advertise the application in a local paper and this costs on average £250.00 (in June 2010 I placed a public notice 'O' licence advertisement for a client in a local newspaper and the cost was £263.00 + VAT!!). Again, this expense will be money wasted if you start the process and then give up or if you make a mess of the application and the Traffic Commissioner makes you advertise again.

Financial Standing: £8,100 for first truck on standard national licence

There is a very specific minimum amount of financial standing evidence that needs to be made available to the Traffic Commissioner as part of the application and this is often the reason applications get rejected. The minimum amount of funds you have to prove to the Commissioner are available to you must remain available throughout the life of the licence, if it's granted. This financial requirement is laid out later on this page, but it's important that you are aware from the start the level of funds required, which is calculated in the following way:-

Since 1st January 2010, anyone applying for a restricted licence (various types of licences are explained below) must be able to show the Traffic Commissioner that they have readily available funds of at least £3,100 for the first vehicle and a further £1,700.00 for each additional vehicle they intend to operate.

Standard National licence applicants need to have £8,100.00 readily available to ensure compliance is possible for the first vehicle and a further £4,500.00 for every additional vehicle, as do Standard International applicants.

Financial evidence must be in the specific name of the applicant

All financial documents must be in the same name(s) as the applicant. For example, what this means is that a sole trader called Andy Other would be able to show any bank accounts, funds or even credit card amounts available, as long as they were in Andy's name. If Andy was a Director in a Limited entity company registered as 'A N Other Limited' then only funds held in accounts in the name of 'A N Other Limited' would be accepted as evidence of finances available. Andy's own personal bank account and any other accounts held in the names of other Directors wouldn't be recognsied as available. The same criteria is in place if a partnership is applying for a licence - only funds in the specific name of the company will be accepted as financial standing.

Trailers are free!?!?

Strangely, if you are intending to operate semi-trailers as part of your operation there is no requirement to show available funds to ensure that they are being used in a compliant way. Yet, if you have your own tractor unit, but pull other peoples semi-trailers, you are responsible for the compliance of each and every semi-trailer you hitch up to. You've also got to show that you have an operating centre where you can park the trailer when not in use, even though it's not yours.

So, do your sums and all your homework before you get as far as sending in the completed application forms to the VOSA Central Licensing Unit at Leeds.

'What type of operator licence do you require?'

OK, so you are sure that the finances are in place and you want to start the ball rolling.  The next thing on the agenda is to decide what type of operator licence you need:  restricted; standard national or standard international.

Restricted is the type of operator licence that is required if an operator is only going to use his/her vehicles/trailers to move his/her own products and/or carry out own account movements. This type of licence does not presently require the operator to be the holder of a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) in Road Freight, nor does it require the operator to specifically employ anyone who is competent to operate commercial vehicles - strange, in my opinion very wrong, but nonetheless true. 

Furthermore, a restricted operator can carry out movements both nationally and internationally, as long as the movements are always on an own account basis. In plain terms, if you are granted a restricted operator licence your vehicles can go anywhere within and outside the UK as long as the trucks are only used to carry your own goods. You must never use vehicles authorised on a restricted operator licence to move other peoples goods, to do so is an offence and could lead to the licence being revoked.

Standard National operator licences authorise the holder to carry out any hire for reward transportation by road, as long as movements only take place within the UK. This type of licence does require the operator or an employee of some sort to be the holder of a Certificate of Professional Competetence (CPC) in National Road Freight.  This is what is often referred to as the Transport Managers CPC, not to be confused with the Driver CPC. To be the nominated Transport Manager is an important role and one that the Traffic Commissioners will expect to be carried out with due diligence and care.

Don't be tempted to put forward someone from the various companies advertising "Transport Managers for hire" in the trade papers, or put forward a friend or relative who holds a Transport Manager CPC but you will never see from one month to the next. The role of nominated Transport Manager is the most important role in any business that relies on commercial vehicles. It mustn't be treated as a 'part-time' role that can be done by anyone. If you gain an 'O' licence and receive a visit from VOSA, which often happens within the first six months after a licence has been granted, the nominated Transport Manager will be expected to show that he or she is carrying out their role properly. If not, the licence will be in jeopardy.

Standard International operator licences give the holder authorisation to ply their trade (movement of goods) internationally, as well as nationally.  In this instance the holder of a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) in International Road Freight must be employed by the company.

Have you got suitable and appropriate preventative maintenence procedures arranged?

Before the Traffic Commissioner will grant any type or size (in number of vehicles) of 'O' licence the applicant needs to show that a good quality set of standards, procedures and practices are in place to ensure that all the vehicles and any trailers to be used are always fit and serviceable.

Preventative Maintenance Inspections(PMI) 

It is a requirement of every application that evidence of a maintenance and planned inspection contract is part of the application.  If you have your own workshop facilities and either employ or bring in a suitably qualified commercial vehicle technician to carry out maintenance work then you can declare that to the Commissioner.  If you use a third party garage or dealership you will need to enter into a written contract with them to carry out regular PMI's on your fleet and ensure that they confirm that they are available to undertake maintenance as and when required. You must complete three copies of form GOL6 Maintenance Agreement. One should be sent in with your aplliaction, one copy should be left with the maintenance provider and you should keep the third copy with your own records.

You also need to show on the GOL6 form what the intervals will be between safety inspections on your vehicles.  The majority of operators presently follow a six-weekly interval period, but the Traffic Commissioner is prepared to accept longer intervals between inspections if you believe that your fleet can remain fully compliant. For instance, if you intend to run new trucks and they will cover relatively few miles each month then you could specify safety inspections will take place every twelve weeks and this is likley to be accepted as adequate. However, if you are intending to run a fleet of aging rigid tippers that regularly plough across building sites the Commissioner would expect you to ensure inspections were far more frequent, such as at six or even four week intervals. The trick is to be fully compliant at all times. If you are found to be running non-compliant trucks the intervals you specified will be checked, so discuss this with a competent person before completing the GOL6 form.  All the forms you need can be downloaded from the VOSA website 'forms' page

Forward Planning of Preventative Mantenance  

Every prospective operator must have in place a forward planning system, such as a wallchart or software system, that ensures inspections; tests, VED renewal, calibrations etc. of the vehicles and their components are carried out as and when required by the Commissioner. You will need to have at the very least six months forward planning in place at any time if you are to be seen as competent to operate commercial vehicles. A point bearing in mind is that the Commissioners and VOSA Vehicle Examiners view annual tests as minimum standards of compliance, so don't think you can leave the full maintenance of any vehicle or trailer until just before it's annual test. If you are spot checked by VOSA in a roadside encounter and they believe that regular maintenance has not taken place your next stop is likely to be at Public Inquiry.

Walk round checks and defect reporting

More emphasis is being placed on the responsibility of drivers' to carry out preventative maintenance procedures within their daily duties. With the introduction of graduated fixed penalties last year (2009) and the additional power of VOSA to issue these penalties to drivers' it is ever more important that operators train their drivers to carry out regular and effective walk round checks on the vehicles and trailers they are using. What's more defect reporting and written and auditable evidence that rectification has taken place must be available.

Every operator must have an audited walk round check and defect reporting system in place.  Even an owner driver is expected to have written evidence of carrying out daily walk round checks and prove that defects are rectified.  The 'NIL' defect reporting system isn't a mandatory requirement, but it is certainly a good way of proving that you have tasked your drivers' with carrying out regular checks on their trucks and trailers. Put a written or electronic system in place, it will pay dividends both in ensuring you pick up defects sooner, thereby most likely reducing repair biils, and it will show the VOSA vehicle examiner that you are committed to good levels of compliance.

'How many vehicles and trailers will you need?'

If you believe that you will only require 2 vehicles and 2 trailers to start with it's still well worth looking at what you hope to achieve in the next year or so and whether this may require you to have more than 2 vehicles before your 'O' licence comes up for review, normally in five years time.  The reason that I suggest this additional thought and consideration at this point is that you may find it easier to apply for an initial authorisation to specify 4 vehicles and 4 trailers from the very start rather than having to go through the application process twice in so many years.  If you are granted authorisation for 4 vehicles and 4 trailers you don't have to be operating 4 straight away, you can run 2 trucks and trailers and keep a 'margin' of two more of each for use as and when required.

Tractor Unit users must specify trailers, even if you don't own any of your own

Something that isn't always understood by new applicants is that if you are intending to run a tractor unit you must apply for authorisation to run a semi-trailer as well, even if you don't own your own trailer. As menioned briefly above, as soon as you back under anyone's semi-trailer with your tractor unit you are then liable for the condition of that trailer until the moment you disconnect from it. Both VOSA and the Traffic Commissioner will expect you to have applied for authorisation to operate both a vehicle and a trailer. There is no additional financial standing requirement when applying to run trailers, nor do you have to specify the exact trailer you are to use. In fact many owner drivers go through their entire career without ever having owned a semi-trailer, they always pull other companies trailers, but they must still have authority from the Traffic Commissioner to 'operate' a trailer.

'Have you got somewhere suitable to park the vehicles and trailers?'

The Traffic Commissioner will expect you to have suitable, environmentally acceptable and adequate parking facilities for the number and type of vehicles and trailers you intend to operate. It's worth remembering that every application for an 'O' licence must be advertised within the Public Notices section of a newspaper that is readily available in the area where your operating centre (parking facility) or centres will be. Members of the public and owners of other businesses can object to your application if they feel they have due cause. What's more the local authority, the Police, trade associations and various other bodies can object as well, so it's important you make sure you have permission to park if you don't own the designated operating centre.

Don't expect to be granted an 'O' licence if you specify the drive of your semi-detached house as the operating centre for a 44 tonner, or even a 7.5 tonner for that matter!!  You must take into account environmental and weight related considerations when looking for somewhere to park.  If you get permission to park in someone else's operating centre you must supply suitable written prove of this and you must also let the Traffic Commissioner know how many vehicles and trailers are already parked there by other authorised operators and how many vehicles/trailers in total that you believe could be safely parked there. It's now simple free to find out who is authorised to park where. Take down the trading name of the owner of the other vehicles, or their 'O' licence number from the identity disc in the window of one of their trucks and then enter either on the VOSA online Operator Licensing Search Facility and it will show there full information and confirm how many vehicles and trailers (if applicable) that the Traffic Commissioner has authorised them to park.

Financial standing ......... check and re-check you've got the funds first

Being a goods vehicle operator isn't a game, so don't play at it!

Team up with Truck UK from the very start .... and be a winner!