The DVA expect operators to have an effective process in place relating to all aspects of driver management, from recruitment, selection and training through to ongoing professional development and management of drivers’ hours.

Your recruitment processes will need to demonstrate that drivers are suitably qualified, experienced and licensed to drive the type of vehicle they are being employed for.  A DVA auditor will want to see evidence of how you establish driver knowledge and validity to drive before selecting new employees.

Your drivers must have at the very least, the correct category of licence, a valid Driver CPC card and a valid digital tachograph driver card.  They may also be required to have an ADR licence if carrying dangerous goods, for example.

If you have customers that require drivers to do training at their sites to comply with their specific site rules, which are often health and safety related, evidence of how this is managed would also be appropriate to demonstrate to the DVA auditor.

You will also need to demonstrate to the auditor the processes you have in place to effectively monitor driver related compliance once they have been employed, including driving licence and driver CPC authorisation, classes, disqualification, penalty points, expiry, and licence conditions. And you will be asked to provide evidence of induction procedures and further training initiatives or communications tools that you have in place.

The DVA states that there “must be a process in place to demonstrate that walkaround checks are carried out effectively, together with a documented audit process that checks compliance with the requirements” and that “a robust and effective defect reporting process must be in place which includes a nil defect process.”

The basis of all defect identification starts with a detailed policy and the DVA is very clear that it expects this policy to be shared regularly with drivers, so your auditor will not just want to see what your policy is, they’ll want to see evidence of how this is communicated throughout your organisation.

The auditor will want to see evidence of training records, showing training at induction and subsequent regular refresher training, and they’ll want to review the training materials used.

Next, the auditor will want to see traceability of defect rectification.  As I’ve said before, the TRU and the DVA expect to see defects.  They just want to see traceability of how defects are recorded and managed, and how these records are stored.

If, for example, a lightbulb has blown and the driver fixes it, the DVA still needs to see a record of the defect being recorded and the rectification that took place.

The auditor will also want to see who in the organisation makes the call on whether or not a vehicle is used when a defect is found.

In the case of safety critical defects, the vehicle off road (VOR) process will also be scrutinised and what measures are in place to ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy before use.

It’s important to note that the auditor will pick random vehicle registration numbers in advance of the site visit, so you will not have the opportunity to be selective about what evidence you show on the day.  This means your policies must hold up across the board and your drivers need to know that they all have to play by the rules.

Our automated tachograph analysis software, Disc-check, includes a vehicle first use check functionality, which sends defects straight to the garage.  Please contact me for more information.

The DVA states that an operator must have “satisfactory arrangements for ensuring that drivers’ hours and tachograph requirements are complied with” and “a comprehensive and effective system for monitoring compliance with working time directive (WTD) must be in place.”

As with everything compliance-related, this starts with policies.  You will need a policy relating to drivers’ hours, a policy on Working Time Regulations and included somewhere must be a policy surrounding driver card and company cards, issue numbers and expiry dates, and dealing with lost and defective cards.

In addition, you will need to demonstrate to the auditor the processes you have in place to effectively monitor driving licence and driver CPC authorisation, classes, disqualification, penalty points, expiry, and licence conditions for all drivers within the business. And you could be asked to provide evidence of further training initiatives or communications tools you have in place.

As with identification and rectification of defects, an auditor will want to see evidence of how your policies are communicated to your drivers and also your planners in this case.  Evidence might include copies of information memos/bulletins, e-learning courses or ‘toolbox talks’ (as the DVA like to call them), as well as evidence of how these policies are communicated at induction.

The frequency of downloading of tachograph data is specified by the DVA as follows:

• Driver card must be downloaded once every 28 days minimum
• Tacho must be downloaded at least once every 90 days

However, at AJT Transport Consultancy, we recommend downloading the driver card at least once per week and the tachograph once a month.  This is because you need to be proactive in analysing drivers’ hours data.  Downloading and analysing once per week means you can deal with any infringements as they happen.  If you wait the prescribed maximum 28 days and then try to investigate an infringement that took place three or four weeks ago, there is less likelihood of the driver remembering the circumstances surrounding the infringement. If a driver is over time, for example, it is important to record the reason within your records.  The DVA does allow for “unforeseen circumstances” if there is a legitimate reason for the infringement.  You won’t fail an audit on this basis unless you fail to do something about it.

The auditor will want to see your tachograph analysis procedure, including how frequently analysis is carried out, and will want to see a record of any action taken if any infringements are found.  As I’ve said before, auditors do not necessarily expect to see a squeaky clean record, they will just want to be satisfied that you are aware of any infringements and that appropriate action has been taken when they occur.  For example, records of speaking to drivers about infringements, evidence of retraining carried out and even up to dismissal for recurring violations.  In the case of drivers’ hours and Working Time regulations, the process is every bit as important as the hours recorded.

At AJT Transport Consultancy we have lots of tools available to simplify the management of drivers’ hours compliance, including remote downloading, automated analysis of tachograph data and an app for drivers that helps them manage their hours and acknowledge infringements.  Moving over to automated processing and digital communication of data brings peace of mind that data is being managed.

The nominated transport manager or “responsible person” has a number of responsibilities relating to the operator licence.

He/she must be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of all aspects of the operation and must be able to demonstrate evidence of qualifications and competence.  And they must have continuous, effective management of the transport operation. The Transport Manager is expected to be a senior person in the organisation who has oversight of the whole business operation including finance, HR, and health & safety.  An auditor will look for evidence of this.

Your responsible person must hold the Transport Manager CPC qualification, and if it has been more than five years since the qualification was completed, he/she must sit a refresher course. The auditor might also request evidence of other CPD such as seminars attended or subscriptions to relevant publications.

If a CPC refresher course has not been completed once the initial five years has passed, the auditor may not fail you, but conditions could be attached to your operator licence until you provide evidence of attending the course.

In a large organisation:

The responsible person may not be solely responsible for all areas of compliance, but he/she must be aware of everything that is going on.  In this case, the auditor will want to understand the organisational structure and may ask to see evidence of how often the responsible person meets with the various department heads/teams.

In a small organisation:

Companies that operate vehicles that are not their main business (e.g. quarries, manufacturers, utilities companies, etc) are expected to be at the same level of compliance as hauliers.  This means you will still be required to have a responsible person.  It is quite common for spouses of small business owners to take on the title of Transport Manager, but it is important to know that this person must be fully involved in the business.  They cannot be transport manager in name only.

In the case of a small business where the owner is not the transport manager, the DVA might expect the owner to complete an Operator Licence Awareness Training (OLAT) course, to ensure that he/she is at least aware of the compliance obligations.

In a small business where the responsible person also has another role (e.g. Director), the DVA will expect the majority of this person’s time to be spent as transport manager.  The auditor could therefore ask for evidence of how the responsible person’s time is divided.

Any change in your transport manager or responsible person must be notified to the DVA within 28 days.

Establishment, in the eyes of the DVA, includes the main business head office address and any operating centre that is included on the operator licence.

The DVA defines an operating centre as the place where “authorised vehicles are normally kept when not in use” and the approved operating centre(s) must be “suitable for the number, type and size of vehicles operated under the licence.”  Although there is some interpretation about what the statement “when not in use” means, typically the DVA expects vehicles to be kept at the operating centre address when parked up.

In the last few months we know of a number of cases where auditors are being asked by the TRU to go out to inspect premises.  Prior to this, they would only have physically visited if an objection to an operating centre had been raised.

The DVA auditor will expect the operating centre to be a legitimate place that you operate from.  This would be evidenced by having a presence and staff located at the address.  And the auditor will check to ensure that there are sufficient physical spaces for vehicles to be parked in.

If the operating centre is a shared location with other operators, it must have individually marked out parking spaces with enough for each operators’ number of authorised vehicles. And it is important to note that a tractor unit and a trailer equates to two spaces.

One final point to note is that all compliance records must be kept at the operating centre location.  If the DVA finds that you are using a location that is not specified on your licence for any aspect of your vehicle parking or compliance recording, you could risk having your licence revoked.  Read more on this here.

Any change of operating centre must be approved prior to its usage! 

The final post in this series relates to vehicle height and weight procedures.

The DVA expects there to be satisfactory arrangements for ensuring that vehicles of the correct type, height and weight are used for goods to be carried and that the route is suitable for the type of vehicle.  Particular emphasis is on ensuring that vehicles are not overloaded.

As well as wanting to understand how you monitor vehicle weights, the DVA auditor will need to see the processes you have in place to ensure all relevant personnel are aware of vehicle weights and heights.  There must be processes in place and evidence of driver and vehicle loader training and that the company has the right equipment to maintain safe loads.  The auditor will also want to see that planners are also well informed of vehicle suitability/capability for load and route planning purposes.