What a public inquiry is
A public inquiry is a formal hearing in front of a Traffic Commissioner. It is usually triggered by a poor DVSA maintenance or traffic investigation, prohibitions at the roadside, a poor annual test record, drivers’ hours offences, missing financial standing or a change the operator should have notified. Sometimes it is triggered by a new application the Commissioner has doubts about.
The Commissioner’s powers come from the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995. Under section 26 a licence can be revoked, suspended or curtailed. Under section 27 it must be revoked if the operator no longer meets the requirements for good repute, financial standing or professional competence. Under section 28 the operator, its directors and its transport manager can be disqualified.
What’s at stake
- The licence itself: revocation, suspension or curtailment to fewer vehicles.
- Your transport manager: a finding that they have lost their good repute, which stops them acting as a transport manager anywhere.
- The people behind it: disqualification from holding or being involved in an operator licence.
- Conditions going forward: undertakings such as independent compliance audits, extra training or new systems, with deadlines.
Legal advice and compliance evidence
An inquiry has two sides. The legal side covers the law, procedure, what to admit, how to present the case and how to argue for a proportionate outcome. That needs a solicitor who does this work every week.
The compliance side is just as important. Traffic Commissioners want to know whether you can be trusted to run a compliant operation from now on. Promises carry little weight. Evidence that the problems have already been found and fixed carries a lot. That evidence is an independent audit, new procedures, retrained staff and records that show the system working.
Don’t leave it late
The sooner both start, the stronger the case. Fixes put in place weeks before the hearing, with records to prove they are working, count for far more than a plan written the night before.
Our legal partner: Dyne Solicitors
DYNE SOLICITORS · SOLICITORS4TRANSPORT
Jared Dunbar
Director of Transport Services
Jared specialises in operator licensing, public inquiries and the defence of DVSA prosecutions. He has represented hauliers throughout the UK and Ireland. His DVSA cases range from a single driver being prosecuted to a company and its drivers facing over 750 summonses.
He was named Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Transport Lawyer of the Year 2026 and has repeatedly been listed in the Legal 500 as a leading individual for transport in the North West.
Through their Solicitors4Transport team, Dyne Solicitors handle:
- representation at public inquiries before the Traffic Commissioner;
- operator licence applications and variations;
- transport manager repute;
- financial standing;
- regulatory action under sections 26, 27 and 28;
- insolvency and pre-pack administration where a licence is involved.
Dyne Solicitors Limited, The White House, High Street, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9PX · 01829 773100 · info@dynesolicitors.co.uk
What J&JL does
We don’t give legal advice. We do the compliance work your solicitor and the Commissioner will want to see:
- an independent compliance audit of maintenance, drivers’ hours, tachograph, driver licensing and transport manager oversight, with a written report and action plan;
- maintenance systems that work: inspection intervals, laden roller brake tests, defect reporting and sign-off;
- a transport manual mapping every O-licence undertaking to a written procedure, and driver handbooks signed for by every driver;
- training for drivers and office staff, with records;
- after the decision, the follow-up audits and reports required by any undertakings.
Starting out, or applying for a licence after a previous problem? See setting up a haulage company properly.
J&JL Ltd is a transport compliance consultancy, not a firm of solicitors, and does not provide legal advice. Legal advice and representation are provided by Dyne Solicitors Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 408973). J&JL and Dyne Solicitors are independent businesses.