Directors, it’s your name on the O-licence
Su Winch, managing director of transport training provider Novadata, explains why training is one of the key aspects of good O-licence management
For many organisations, holding a transport operator licence is essential to their business, so ensuring that it is well managed ought to be a priority.
Regular training should be on the schedule not just of every transport manager, but also of any business principal whose business relies on having an O-licence.
When the application for the O-licence is made, it is a director of the company – or a sole trader or partner in a partnership – who makes and signs the application. This application creates a series of legally binding undertakings which the licence holder agrees to fulfil.
As well as specific undertakings, this includes a general commitment to run their transport operation in compliance with current transport legislation. Knowing and understanding those undertakings, and keeping abreast of changes in the law, is therefore critical. You must know what you should be complying with.
The same applies to holders of a restricted operator licence. The company director – or other principal – who signs the application for a restricted O-licence takes on the same legal responsibilities.
There is one significant difference, in that the restricted O-licence holder does not need a Transport Manager CPC qualification. This is something of a two-edged situation.
On the positive side, the restricted O-licence holder does not have to go through the quite challenging process of studying for and acquiring the Transport Manager CPC qualification; but on the other hand, this means they do not have the training which precedes the Manager CPC examinations.
The restricted O-licence holder must therefore fulfil all the same legal responsibilities as the standard O-licence holder, but without their training.
Many organisations with a standard O-licence hire a qualified transport manager to manage and maintain the fleet, allowing company directors get on with managing the business as a whole.
However, it is not possible to delegate the ultimate legal responsibility for compliance to a transport manager; the responsibility is shared. Should something go wrong, both the transport manager and the director who signed the O-licence will be held jointly responsible by the authorities.
Company directors and principals whose organisation requires either an O-licence or a restricted O-licence should therefore be aware of evolving transport legislation and best practice, even if they have a transport manager to implement it. Legally at least, ignorance is not bliss.
The answer to this is, of course, Operator Licence Awareness Training (OLAT). If your name is on the O-licence, you should attend an OLAT course every few years. The traffic commissioners (TCs) recommend at least every five years as a good rule of thumb.
Transport managers are also expected by the UK TCs to attend Transport Manager CPC Refresher training every few years. One or two-day courses are readily available and help you to stay current with both legislation and best practice.
Transport law evolves, as seen in the recent revisions to drivers’ hours rules, and the changes can be subtle but far-reaching. In this instance the acceptable methods of recording drivers’ hours were changed, so the same rules are applied, but the format for recording data may have needed to change, depending on your current method.
Those using outdated methods might have been unaware that they were using a format that is no longer acceptable. Being fully aware of this change could have avoided having to re-record many months’ worth of data in a different format in order to achieve compliance.
It can, therefore, actually save you time to stay current with best practice, as the gradual evolution of the legislation is not calculated to make life difficult, but to make your compliance more robust. This, in turn, helps safeguard your O-licence, your reputation and, ultimately, your business. A day or two spent attending training can also be a lot more rewarding and less frustrating than correcting inadvertent errors – or losing your O-licence.
How much training you should do is ultimately up to you, but if you come to the notice of the TC, they will insist that you attend a training course. A TC will order attendance at a Transport Manager CPC Refresher course for a professional transport manager, or an OLAT course for a company director. They will almost certainly order you to attend a two-day training course. After all, if you have come to their notice, you do need to brush up your knowledge.
We believe, on balance, it is far better to attend a one or two-day course voluntarily, every couple of years, at a time of your own choosing, and avoid meeting the TC altogether.
Attending a course on the orders of the TC will not be optional, and it will not be something you can put off if you want to keep you O-licence. Regular attendance is something that you as a company director, a principal, or a transport manager, should build into your schedule as part of your continuous professional development – not least in order to stay compliant with the law.
Errors can be as simple as forgetting to tell the TC of a change of address, inform them of the retirement of a director, or simply failing to keep records in an acceptable form.
We have very often seen training delegates turn slightly pale when they realise that something they have been doing is wrong, or simply outdated; but they have been able to return to work and correct the error, strengthen their processes, and move on without coming to the notice of the authorities.
If the O-licence is fundamental to the operation of the business, a few days spent training every few years is a small price to pay for your continued success.
