Operator Licence Compliance Checklist (UK)

Owned by the transport manager. Enter the review date on the first task: the day the transport manager and a director meet to go through the findings. The records are checked in the three weeks before it and the actions follow it. The first task also says which licence the operator holds, whether vehicles go abroad and whether the operator is in DVSA earned recognition, which decides the tasks that show.

• Set up the review: the licence, the period and the people — the licence holder, the licence number and type, the period the review covers, the review date, whether vehicles make journeys outside the UK and whether the operator is in DVSA earned recognition, and the people; later tasks are assigned from these fields and every due date counts from the review date
• Bring forward the last review’s open actions — every action from the last review that is not closed, with its owner and date, and anything the traffic commissioner or DVSA has asked for since
• Book the review meeting and ask each owner for their records — the meeting booked with the director for the review date, and each person asked for the records they hold for the period: maintenance files, defect reports, tachograph analysis, driver licence checks, bank statements

The licence itself: what it authorises, the conditions and undertakings it records, the vehicles specified on it and the operating centres where they are kept. A traffic commissioner can revoke, suspend or curtail a licence when a condition is broken or an undertaking is not kept, so each one is checked against evidence.

• Check the licence details on the Vehicle Operator Licensing service — the licence type, the vehicles and trailers authorised, the operating centres, the transport managers named, the correspondence address and the date the licence must next be continued; anything out of date is a change to report in Phase 7
• Check every condition and undertaking on the licence is kept — each condition and undertaking written on the licence, how it is kept and the evidence for the period: for example a maintenance contract, an inspection interval, an independent audit or the hours vehicles may leave an operating centre
• Check the vehicles in use against the authorisation and the licence discs — every vehicle in use specified on the licence, none over the number authorised, vehicles that were sold or off-hired removed, and a current disc displayed in each one
• Check each operating centre is used as authorised — vehicles and trailers kept only at the operating centres on the licence, the numbers at each within its authorisation, and any conditions on the site, such as hours or where vehicles park, kept
• Confirm the business base and the address for service — for a standard licence, premises in Great Britain where the core business records are kept, not a PO box; for every licence, an address for official letters and emails that is current and checked

A standard licence needs appropriate financial standing and a transport manager who manages the transport service effectively and continuously; a restricted licence needs sufficient financial resources. A director checks the money, and the transport manager records how the transport service was managed. The licence type on the first task decides which management task shows.

• Check financial standing or financial resources for the vehicles authorised — the amount the licence needs for the number of vehicles authorised, against the average balance of the operator’s own accounts over the last three months, with any overdraft or facility agreed in writing
• Confirm the transport manager’s continuous and effective management — the hours the transport manager worked each week against the hours declared, the work they did on maintenance, drivers, drivers’ hours and audits, and any time they could not do the job and told the operator in writing
• Check the transport manager’s qualification and training — the Certificate of Professional Competence on file, the date it was issued, and the refresher training or continuing professional development done
• Record who manages transport on the restricted licence — a restricted licence needs no transport manager, so record who looks after maintenance, drivers’ licences, drivers’ hours and the records, and the training they have had

Every licence holder promises satisfactory arrangements for keeping vehicles fit and serviceable. DVSA’s Guide to maintaining roadworthiness is the starting point traffic commissioners use, so each check here follows it: inspections on time and signed off, a brake assessment at each one, a planner six months ahead, annual tests, recalls and vehicles off the road.

• Check every safety inspection was done within its interval — the inspection intervals for vehicles and trailers recorded on the licence, and each inspection due in the period against the date it was done; any late or missed inspection with the reason
• Check each inspection record is complete and signed off — every inspection sheet showing the items checked, the defects found, the repairs and who repaired them, and a signature that the vehicle is roadworthy; records kept for at least 15 months
• Check a brake performance assessment was done at every inspection — a laden roller brake test, an electronic braking performance monitoring report for a trailer, or a decelerometer test with temperature readings at each inspection, with a risk assessment where a laden test was not done
• Check the maintenance planner runs at least six months ahead — safety inspection dates set at least six months ahead for every vehicle and trailer, with annual test dates, tachograph calibration dates and any other testing in the same planner
• Check the annual test (MOT) results for every vehicle and trailer — each annual test in the period, whether it passed first time, the reasons for any failure, and every test date ahead in the planner; the results are on the MOT history service
• Check safety recalls and vehicles off the road — every safety recall recorded and put right, and each vehicle declared off the road recorded with the date and reason; a vehicle that missed an inspection while off the road inspected before it returned to service
• Check the maintenance contract and the inspection facilities — where inspections are contracted out, a written agreement with the provider that covers the intervals, the brake testing and the records; where they are done in house, the facilities and the inspectors’ training

The daily walkaround check is the driver’s check before each use. This phase checks the system around it: a check every day a vehicle is used, every defect reported in writing, assessed and repaired before the vehicle goes out, and inspection findings compared with what drivers reported. The check itself runs on the Fleet Vehicle Inspection Checklist.

• Check a walkaround check was recorded every day each vehicle was used — a sample of days for each vehicle against its defect reports or nil reports, with the time drivers spend on the check where tachograph data shows it
• Check every reported defect was assessed and repaired before use — each defect report with the defect, who it was reported to, the assessment, the repair and the date, and no vehicle used with a safety defect outstanding
• Compare inspection findings with drivers’ defect reports — defects found at safety inspections that a walkaround check should have found, and what was done about the drivers’ checks
• Check height indicators and load information in the cabs — an overall height indicator in the cab of every vehicle over 3 metres high, showing the right height for the vehicle, trailer and load, and drivers told the vehicles’ payloads

Drivers’ licences, Driver CPC and training, then the tachograph downloads, the infringements found and what was done about them. Rules for goods vehicles follow DVSA’s drivers’ hours guide (GV262), which covers the assimilated rules and the GB domestic rules. Journeys outside the UK add a task for their records and documents.

• Check every driver’s licence entitlement and penalty points — each driver’s licence checked with DVLA with the driver’s permission, the categories they hold for the vehicles they drive, their penalty points and the date of the next check
• Check each driver’s Driver CPC card and training deadline — a valid Driver CPC card for every professional driver, the 5-year deadline on each card, and the training each driver still needs before it
• Check driver induction and training records — every driver, including agency drivers, trained on drivers’ hours, the tachograph, walkaround checks and defect reporting, with the dates on file
• Check the records and documents for journeys outside the UK — drivers carrying the documents international journeys need, the licence’s UK Licence for the Community where it is required, any permits, and records kept for the days the rules ask
• Check the vehicle units were downloaded at least every 90 days — each digital or smart tachograph vehicle unit downloaded at least every 90 calendar days, and before a vehicle was sold or off-hired
• Check the driver cards were downloaded at least every 28 days — each driver card downloaded at least every 28 calendar days, and before a driver left, agency drivers included
• Analyse the infringements and record the action taken with each driver — every drivers’ hours and tachograph infringement in the period from the analysis, its cause, and what was done: a talk with the driver, retraining, a change to the schedule or discipline
• Check every tachograph calibration is in date — the calibration plaque and certificate for each vehicle: a digital or smart tachograph recalibrated every 2 years, an analogue one inspected every 2 years and recalibrated every 6
• Check drivers’ hours and working time records are kept — drivers’ hours records kept for at least 12 months and working time records for at least 24 months, and the records can be produced when asked

DVSA’s view of the operator: the Operator Compliance Risk Score, every roadside check, prohibition, offence and visit in the period, and earned recognition where the operator is in it. Then every change the traffic commissioner must be told about within 28 days. An encounter with a prohibition or offence adds an investigation task, and a change not yet reported adds the notification.

• Check the Operator Compliance Risk Score — the roadworthiness, traffic and combined bands from the online report, any change since the last review and the events behind it
• Record every roadside check, prohibition and DVSA contact in the period — each roadside inspection, prohibition, fixed penalty, offence, site visit or letter from DVSA or the traffic commissioner, with the vehicle or driver and the result
• Investigate each prohibition or offence and put the cause right — for each one, why it happened, what has changed so it does not happen again, any reply DVSA or the traffic commissioner asked for, and whether it is a conviction or fixed penalty that must be reported
• Check the earned recognition KPI reports and the next audit — the 4-weekly key performance indicator reports for the period, any KPI missed and the action agreed with DVSA, and the date of the next audit
• Check for changes the traffic commissioner must be told about — each change in the period that must be reported within 28 days, and whether it was: the legal entity, directors or partners, the transport manager, the addresses or operating centres, convictions and fixed penalties, insolvency, or anything affecting good repute, financial standing or professional competence
• Report each change to the traffic commissioner now — through the Vehicle Operator Licensing self service account or in writing to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, with the date sent and the reference; do not wait for the sign-off, because the 28 days run from the change

The transport manager writes up the findings and agrees an action for each gap with an owner and a date. A director then signs the review off: the checklist halts there, and Not approved keeps it halted and adds a task to put right what the director asked for. Reports to the traffic commissioner are made in Phase 7 whatever the decision.

• Write up the findings and rate each area — each area of the review with what was found and a rating: compliant, action needed or serious, with the serious ones raised with the director straight away
• Agree each action with an owner and a date — one action for each gap found, with the person who owns it and the date it will be closed, and the open actions brought forward from the last review
• Put right what the director asked for — after a Not approved decision only: do what the director recorded, update the findings and the action plan, then ask the director to change the decision to Approved and complete the sign-off; reports to the traffic commissioner are made in Phase 7 and do not wait for this
• Sign off the review and the action plan — Approved or Not approved, recorded by the director alone after going through the findings and the action plan with the transport manager

After the sign-off the findings go to drivers and staff, each action is closed by its date with evidence, and the next quarter’s review is started.

• Brief drivers and staff on what the review found — the findings that affect them, such as walkaround checks, defect reports, card downloads or infringements, given at a briefing or a toolbox talk, with who attended
• Close each action by its date and keep the evidence — each action in the plan closed with evidence, or moved to a new date with the reason; anything still open goes into the next review
• File this review and start the next quarter’s run — the findings, action plan and sign-off kept with the operator’s records, and a new run started with the next review date, about three months after this one