Licence Applications

Licence Applications – The goods vehicle operator-licensing scheme is administered by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on behalf of the traffic commissioners.

The rules and fees are different if you are in Northern Ireland.

How to apply for a licence

You can apply for a goods vehicle operator’s licence online.

You will also need to:

• advertise your application for a licence, which will include advertising your proposed operating centre(s)
• obtain permission to park your vehicle(s) at your proposed operating centre, unless you own the site
• nominate a transport manager if you’re applying for a standard licence
• provide information about your financial situation
• draw up a maintenance contract with a garage or agent to do safety inspections and repair vehicles if you do not do this yourself

You will have to pay a fee to apply for a licence.

You will usually get a decision on your application within 7 weeks. It can take longer – for example, if you do not provide all the required documents when you apply online.

Now the O-Licence apllication process has moved entirely online, the Traffic Commissioners have also included Operator Compliance Risk Score detailed reports, Vehicle Maintenance Test History and Encounter Reports to the Vehicle Operator Licence (VOL). This now means that an operator can view a majority of their compliance information on one site and the VOL has become even more user friendly.

Apply for an interim licence

If you need a licence urgently, you can apply for an interim licence until you get your full licence.

The traffic commissioner will only consider issuing an interim licence on receipt of a complete application for an operator’s licence.

What the traffic commissioners do

There are 8 traffic areas in Great Britain with a traffic commissioner responsible for each area. You will need to hold a goods vehicle operator’s licence for each traffic area where you have an operating centre.

Traffic commissioners are responsible in their area for:

• licensing operators of goods vehicles
• granting vocational licences
• taking action against drivers of goods vehicles

When necessary, they also hold public inquiries to consider:

• the environmental suitability of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) operating centres
• applications for new licences
• disciplinary action against operators who have broken the conditions of their licences

What happens if you break the terms of your licence?

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency carries out regular roadside vehicle checks and checks on operating centres. They then submit information to the independent traffic commissioners.

Your vehicle may be prohibited or immobilised if a DVSA roadside check finds that:

• it’s been overloaded
• it’s unroadworthy
• it breaks the rules on the transport of dangerous goods
• a driver has broken drivers’ hours regulations

Your licence could be taken away, suspended or restricted by the traffic commissioner if you:

• break any of the terms or conditions of your licence
• do not meet health and safety conditions
• are convicted of certain offences
• are made bankrupt or (if the licence holder is a company) that company goes into liquidation, administration or receivership
• use a place not listed on the licence as an operating centre
• are given a prohibition notice by DVSA following an inspection

The traffic commissioner may decide to call you to a public inquiry to consider if any action against your licence is necessary.

Message to all operators – have you changed your contact details?

If you hold an operator’s licence it is important that your email address, telephone number and postal address held by us is correct.

If your contact details are not correct, you may not receive important correspondence from the traffic commissioner that may affect your operator’s licence.

To check, log into your VOL self-service account today.

If you receive correspondence electronically, through your VOL self-service account, it is also important to check that the email address linked to your account is correct. You can check this by logging in to VOL and then selecting ‘Your Account’ from the options at the top of the page.

Do not have a self-service account? Visit https://www.gov.uk/manage-vehicle-operator-licence to register.

Submitting an application for an Operator Licence

From 1^st August 2022, the traffic commissioners licensing offices in Leeds will no longer accept paper applications for an Operator Licence, all licence applications from this date onwards, must be completed online. Anyone submitting a paper application for an operator licence will find it being ignored. To start a licence application visit the link below:

Apply for a vehicle operator licence – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Once you have an Operator licence, at some point in the future, you may wish to increase the number of vehicles you have or make another variation to your licence, such as adding an additional operating centre. These changes are variations to your operator licence.

Variation to an Operator Licence

To commence a request to increase the number of vehicles on your operator licence, you must first login to your licence. Once you have logged in, you will need to select your licence number and then the ‘Operating Centre and Authorisations’ tab.

You can then select to ‘change your licence’ and the system will allow you to amend the details.

To increase the number of vehicles and/or trailers, you will need to amend the vehicle and/or trailer authorisation on the initial page and save it. Once done, select your operating centre address and amend the authorisation number at that centre.

Complete each stage in the variation process and then pay and submit it.

Do not forget, making a change such as adding more vehicles and/or trailers will also mean advertising in the local area newspaper and once this is published, a copy of the advert must be uploaded, along with any required permission to park if you rent the Operating Centre.

Source – Traffic Commissioners