The information that follows is as issued from; Department for Transport, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain click on each authority name to be taken to their website and all links to more in-depth relevant information items relating to the information within this bulletin. This update concerns major EU changes that will occur during 2022, with changes to Operator Licensing and Transport Management implemented on 21 May 2022.
The initial changes commenced in February.
Register road haulage journeys within Europe from 2 February 2022
Check which types of journeys you will need to register online if you transport goods within Europe using a car and trailer, van or HGV from 2 February 2022.
More detailed information concerning cars, vans, and those that pull small trailers can be found at the link below. There are numerous links on the landing page, which are applicable which take you through to the most up to date information.
Transport goods in Europe in vans or car and trailers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Registering journeys
From 2 February 2022, you will need to register the details of some journeys within the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway before the journey starts.
This will apply to you if you use vans of any size or other light goods vehicles (sometimes called ‘light commercial vehicles’) including:
Which journeys you must register
You must register the journey if you transport goods between 2 points in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway for commercial purposes. This means that you load goods at one point and unload them at another point in any of these countries.
Your drivers are sometimes called ‘posted workers’ if they’re working on a journey like this.
These journeys include the following types of work:
Cabotage jobs – Cabotage is loading goods in one of these countries and unloading them at a different place in the same country, using a vehicle registered in the UK.
Cross-trade jobs – Cross-trade is loading goods in one of these countries and unloading them in different one of these countries, using a vehicle registered in the UK.
Moving goods for your own business’ use – You must also register journeys where you move goods for your own business’ use between these countries. This includes if your business is not mainly about moving goods.
If you’re a Northern Ireland vehicle operator
You will need to register journeys within Ireland if they are covered by the rules.
Journeys that will NOT NEED to be registered
You will not need to register the journey if it’s:
Register the journey
Registering the journey is sometimes called a ‘postings declaration’.
The online service to register journeys has been developed by the EU.
There is no fee to register a journey.
When you register the journey, you will need the following:
If you do not register, you will receive penalties.
Operator Licensing
From 21 May 2022, you will need a standard international goods vehicle operator licence to transport goods in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
This will apply to you if you are based in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and use:
You will need to either:
New Licence Applications for a Light Goods Vehicle operator licence
All operator licence applications are carried out online, with the average timescale being approximately 7 weeks. To apply for a van or other light goods vehicle operator licence this landing page will also explain other items relating to licence applications, including financial requirements, fees, driver CPC, Drivers Hours Rules, transport management and permits. At the bottom of the page there is a green button, click on this to start your application.
The new rules will apply to you if you use:
Licence application costs
It costs £257 to apply for a goods vehicle operator licence.
If your application is successful, you need to pay £401 for the licence, which lasts for 5 years. You will then have to pay a continuation fee every 5 years to keep your licence active. The current fee is £401.
Proof of finance you must have available to operate
By law, you need to prove that you have access to a set amount of finance to run your business. The amount you need depends on how many vehicles you have.
You must have £1,600 available for the first vehicle in your fleet. You need an extra £800 per additional vehicle in your fleet.
Example
You have a fleet of five vans.
You need to have £1,600 for the first van.
You then need £800 each for the remaining four vans (£800 × 4 = £3,200).
To run 5 x vans, you therefore need to prove you have access to funds of at least £4,800 (£1,600 + £3,200).
You will NOT NEED a goods vehicle operator licence if any of these apply:
Get professional advice if you are not sure if the rules will apply to you.
Transport manager
You will need to have a transport manager. This is someone responsible for things such as:
You will be able to either:
See options below in more detail.
Option 1: use someone who does not have a Transport Manager CPC
If you decide to use someone who does not have a Transport Manager CPC, the person will need to have at least 10 years of experience managing fleets of vehicles before 20 August 2020.
They need to apply to have their experience recognised so they can become a temporary transport manager (sometimes called having ‘acquired rights’). This means they will be treated as having the Transport Manager CPC for a period. The deadline for applying is 21 May 2024. It is free to apply.
Apply to be a temporary transport manager.
If the application is successful, the individual will be recognised as a transport manager until 21 May 2025. They will need to pass the CPC qualification by that date to continue as a transport manager.
After they have qualified, they will need to keep up a high-quality professional knowledge of transport industry rules and policies. They can take transport manager refresher courses to help them do this, which is usually 2 days every 5 years, plus any further training that maybe requested by the Traffic Commissioners office.
Option 2: employ someone with a transport manager qualification
You can employ someone with a Transport Manager CPC qualification.
You need to make sure they keep up a high-quality professional knowledge of transport industry rules and policies.
Option 3: hire in an external transport manager
You can ‘hire in’ an external transport manager. They are not someone on your payroll, but they have a contract with you to act as your transport manager.
You must:
Driving staff, Drivers Hours Rules & Tachographs
You probably already have driving staff that fulfilled the role of a Light Goods Vehicle driver, however, their roles will become more professionally focused, and you will be required to ensure that happens via training.
The following link gives more information on Running a fleet of vans – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and the new rules that came into effect on 21 May 2022.
Drivers you use or employ
You must make sure that any drivers you use or employ have the correct licence and training.
As an employer, you must:
DVSA encourages all van drivers to take a 45-minute rest for every 4.5 hours of driving. This is in line with EU drivers’ hours rules.
Tachographs record information about driving time, speed and distance. They are used to make sure drivers and employers follow the rules on drivers’ hours.
Your drivers can read a guide about the basics of driving a van for more information on:
Find out more about:
Documents your driver will need to carry
From 2 February 2022, your driver must carry a digital or physical copy of the information you register for the journey.
The rules are not changing for the other documents your drivers will need. They will still need to carry all of the usual:
Your drivers will receive penalties from the enforcement authorities in the European countries they are stopped in if they do not have the right documents.
Documents European Country Authorities can ask you for
From 2 February 2022, enforcement authorities in EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, will be able to ask you (as the operator) for:
You must upload the information you are asked for using the online service. You must do it within 8 weeks of being asked for it.
The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain or the Transport Regulation Unit in Northern Ireland will be able to take action against you if you do not upload the information.
Check your drivers’ licences and ID
You should:
You can do this by using an Online Driver Licence Bureau. This saves you consider time checking licenses manually and will cost no more than £5 per driver check, of which you will need 3 to 4 annually.
Check and improve your drivers’ ability
You should:
A Driver training company such as ourselves (Ridgeway Training Ltd), to ensure your drivers are fully ‘up to speed’ with what is expected of them.
Check your drivers know the rules
You should make sure your drivers fully understand the rules they have to follow, including:
Loading and Overloading
You must not overload your vans. They have a ‘design gross weight’. This is the maximum weight your van can weigh when it is loaded. It is sometimes called the ‘gross vehicle weight’ or ‘laden weight’.
This weight limit is on the vehicle identification number (VIN) plate in your van.
The design gross weight is the total combined weight of:
Maintenance
Check and repair your vans
You should:
Maintain your vans
You should:
Keep records
You should keep records of the following for at least 15 months as part of an effective maintenance system:
Use suitable vans
You should:
Manage risks and costs
You should:
Speed Limits for light commercial vehicles.
Under European regulations, all light commercial vehicles between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes must be restricted to 56mph electronically.
There are exceptions to the basic rule for van speed limits: car-derived vans and dual-purpose vehicles. The speed limits for these commercial vehicles are the same as cars.
Speed limits in each country within the EU are not as straightforward as you think, therefore if you want to know the many variables that have to be obeyed in the countries you are passing through or loading and/or unloading in, please contact us at info@ridgewaytraining.co.uk
Sources
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency,
Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain
Existing International HGV Operator Licence Holders
Existing operator licence holders
You will need to add your vans, cars and trailers to your existing goods vehicle operator licence if you wish to use them to transport goods in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. You will not need to assign them to an operating centre.
You will be able to add your vehicles to your operator licence as required, as long as you have sufficient margin on the licence to cover the additional number of vehicles to be operated.
All information pertaining to Light Goods Vehicle operations is documented above.
There are different goods vehicle operator licensing fees in Northern Ireland.
The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain or the Transport Regulation Unit in Northern Ireland will be able to take action against you if you do not add the vehicles to your licence.
Insufficient Licence Margin
You will need to pay £257 to make a ‘major variation’ if you need to increase the vehicle limit on your licence.
The variation is now made online. Start by logging into your operator licence, you will need to select your valid licence number on your home page and then the ‘Operating Centre and Authorisations’ tab.
You then select to “change your licence” and it will allow you to amend the details.
To do this, you will then need to click on your underlined operating centre address where the new vehicles will operate from and where you can then edit the boxes to show the number of vehicles required. Once done, press “save”.
If you have more than one operating centre, select the one the changes are to be made at.
Once this is done, you will need to advertise those vehicles changes.
You can print off an advert template by clicking on “guidelines” in the advertisement section and when completed you then need to go back into the application and amend the “total authorisation” boxes to match the number of vehicles/trailers you have saved at your operating centre address.
Complete each stage in the variation process and then pay and submit the application.
Changes to your ‘financial standing’
By law, you will need to prove that you have access to a set amount of finance to run your business (‘financial standing’). The amount you need depends on how many vehicles you have.
You must have £8,000 available for the first HGV vehicle in your fleet. You need an extra:
Changes to your transport manager’s responsibilities
Your transport manager will become legally responsible for all the vehicles on your operator licence, in addition to the HGVs and trailers already on it.
Click here to download the Driving for Better Business – Van Driver Toolkit
