Bespoke transport policy manuals

The document every operator is supposed to have

When you applied for your operator licence, you gave legally binding undertakings. You promised that vehicles would be kept fit and serviceable, that drivers' hours and tachograph rules would be observed, and that defects would be reported and repaired promptly. A transport manual is where those promises become procedures: who does what, when, how it is recorded, and what happens when something goes wrong.

Most operators run on inherited habits and scattered paperwork. That works until a DVSA investigation, a public inquiry, a slide in your Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) or a serious incident. Those are the moments when someone asks to see your system. A bespoke transport manual means you have an answer.

What your undertakings commit you to

The undertakings on a goods vehicle operator licence commit you to, among other things:

• observing the laws on driving and operating vehicles, including speed limits and loading;
• making proper arrangements so that drivers' hours and tachograph rules are observed and proper records are kept;
• keeping vehicles and trailers fit and serviceable;
• having drivers report safety defects promptly, and recording and repairing them before the vehicle is used;
• keeping records of driver defect reports, safety inspections, routine maintenance and repairs for 15 months, and producing them on request;
• telling the Traffic Commissioner about relevant changes, such as a new transport manager, convictions, or a change of address or legal entity, within 28 days.

Your licence may also carry conditions or extra undertakings agreed at a hearing. Each one needs a named owner and a written procedure.

Built to the current DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness

DVSA's Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness was substantially revised in November 2024 and last updated on 28 April 2025. Many operators' procedures still describe the old version. Your manual should reflect the current one, including:

• Safety inspection intervals. Set according to vehicle age, type and operating conditions, typically every 4 to 13 weeks, and consistent with what is on your licence.
• Laden brake testing. From April 2025, every safety inspection includes a laden brake performance assessment, by laden roller brake test, an EBPMS report for trailers, or a decelerometer. Every attempt must be made to carry out a laden roller brake test. Where a laden test is not done, a competent person must record a risk assessment. Operators without EBPMS should run at least four laden roller brake tests a year, including the annual test.
• Walkaround checks. At least one check in every 24 hours the vehicle is in service, and more often for arduous or off-road work. Nil-defect reports are good practice and should be kept for at least three months.
• Defect sign-off. A named, competent person must confirm that defects are repaired before the vehicle returns to service. It does not have to be the transport manager, but it must be someone you have named and can show is competent.
• Records. Safety inspection records kept for at least 15 months.

Effective management control and the transport manager

The Senior Traffic Commissioner's statutory guidance on transport managers sets out what effective and continuous management means: managing maintenance, drivers' hours, driver licensing, records and the response to problems, with enough time and authority to do it. Your manual should show how the transport manager does that in your business, how directors oversee them, and who covers when they are absent. If you use an external transport manager, the manual should show the contract, the hours and the reporting line.

The manual should also say what directors receive and review each month, such as inspection completion, open defects, brake test results and infringement trends, so that their oversight is recorded rather than assumed.

What your manual documents

• Licence and undertakings register. Your licence details, conditions and undertakings, each cross-referenced to the procedure that meets it.
• Maintenance systems. Safety inspection intervals and planner, laden brake testing arrangements, service schedules, MOT preparation, maintenance provider arrangements and record retention.
• Defect management. Driver walkaround reporting through to rectification sign-off, including nil-defect reporting and safety-critical escalation.
• Tachograph and drivers' hours management. Card and unit download schedules (at least every 28 and 90 days), analysis arrangements, infringement identification, driver debriefs and escalation, and 12-month retention.
• Driver management. Licence checking regime, induction, Driver CPC tracking, training records, agency driver controls and the link to discipline.
• Working time. How compliance with the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 is tracked and evidenced, with records kept for two years.
• Incidents and accidents. Reporting, investigation and insurer liaison, including which incidents are reportable under RIDDOR.
• Responsibilities matrix. Transport manager, directors, supervisors and drivers: who owns each obligation, with cover arrangements.
• Change notification. What must be reported to the Traffic Commissioner, by whom and within 28 days.
• Document control and review. Versioning, issue records and the annual review that keeps the system live.

How your system is tested

Your manual will be read by people looking for the gap between what you say and what you do. Expect it to be tested in four places:

• DVSA investigations. An examiner compares your procedures with your inspection sheets, defect reports, brake test results and tachograph analysis. Late inspections, open defects and unanswered infringements are the usual findings.
• Roadside checks and OCRS. Prohibitions and offences feed your Operator Compliance Risk Score, which affects how often your vehicles are stopped. A rising score is often the first sign that a procedure has stopped working.
• Public inquiry. If a Traffic Commissioner calls you in, your manual and your records are the main evidence that you can be trusted to keep your licence.
• Earned Recognition and accreditation. DVSA Earned Recognition measures performance against set indicators. For maintenance, an inspection counts as on time only if it is done before or during the ISO week it is due. FORS and ISO 9001 auditors test the same procedures against their own standards.

We write each procedure so that the record it produces answers the question an examiner will ask.

What operators get wrong

• A manual bought off the shelf that names procedures the operation does not follow.
• Inspection intervals in the manual that differ from those on the licence.
• No procedure for laden brake testing, or no risk assessment when a laden test is not done.
• Defects "signed off" by someone who is not named or competent.
• Tachograph analysis that produces reports nobody acts on.
• No record of the transport manager's weekly checks, so effective control cannot be shown.
• A manual written once and never reviewed, still quoting superseded guidance.

Written from your operation, not at it

We do not hand you a binder of theory. We review how your operation actually runs: your maintenance arrangements, your tachograph analysis provider, your depot structure and your people. Then we document the system you genuinely operate, tightened where it needs tightening. The result reads like your business because it is your business, which is exactly what makes it credible under audit.

Good existing practice is kept. We start from a gap analysis against your undertakings and the current DVSA guide, so you get credit for what already works.

One system, working together

The transport manual pairs naturally with a bespoke driver handbook. The manual governs the operation, the handbook instructs the drivers, and the two cross-reference so an auditor can follow any obligation from undertaking to procedure to the instruction in a driver's hands. For operators working towards FORS accreditation, ISO 9001 or DVSA Earned Recognition, the manual becomes the backbone of the whole compliance system.

The manual describes the system. The records prove it runs. Some clients keep those records in Roadworthy, our fleet compliance software, which includes walkaround checks, defect tracking, an inspection and brake test calendar and a weekly signed transport manager record.

What has changed recently

• 3 December 2024: National Driver CPC courses were introduced for UK-only drivers.
• 31 December 2024: drivers on UK–EU international journeys must be able to produce 56 days of records, rather than 28.
• April 2025: DVSA's guide was updated, and laden brake performance assessments became part of every safety inspection.
• 1 July 2026: light goods vehicles over 2.5 tonnes on international hire or reward need smart tachograph version 2.
• Ongoing: the Senior Traffic Commissioner revises the statutory documents in batches, so we cite the current version rather than a version number that will date.

Pricing and timescale

Pricing is based on fleet size — from single-vehicle operations to national fleets — and is confirmed free of charge at your initial consultation. We agree a fixed fee before any work starts.

A single-depot operation typically takes three to four weeks from consultation to final issue. Multi-site fleets take longer. If you are facing a DVSA investigation or a public inquiry, tell us at the first call. Preparation timelines change and we prioritise accordingly.