The words an operator licence is written in. Undertakings, inspections, hours, defects and the records that evidence them — what each term actually means, what it obliges an operator to do, and what a DVSA examiner finds when it slips.
Licensing & duties
Operator licence
An operator licence, or O-licence, is the authorisation a business needs to use goods vehicles above a weight threshold for trade.
Transport manager
A transport manager is the professionally competent person named on an operator licence who has continuous and effective responsibility for managing the transport operations of the business..
Public inquiry
A public inquiry is a hearing before a Traffic Commissioner where an operator's licence is examined.
Driver CPC
Driver CPC is the professional competence qualification a driver must hold to drive a lorry, bus or coach professionally, maintained by periodic training over a rolling cycle..
Driver licence check
A driver licence check verifies that a driver holds the correct entitlement for the vehicle, and that it is current and free of restrictions the operator needs to know about..
Operating centre
An operating centre is the place specified on an operator licence where vehicles are normally kept.
Maintenance & inspection
Walkaround check
A walkaround check is the driver's inspection of a vehicle before it is used, covering the items that can be seen from outside and inside the cab.
Driver defect report
A driver defect report is the written record a driver makes of a fault found on a vehicle, whether at the walkaround check or during the day.
Preventative maintenance inspection
A preventative maintenance inspection, or PMI, is a scheduled safety inspection of a vehicle carried out to a set list at a set frequency, independently of whether anything is known to be wrong with it..
Roadworthiness
Roadworthiness is the condition of a vehicle being fit and serviceable for use on the road.
Annual test
The annual test is the statutory roadworthiness test that heavy goods vehicles, trailers and passenger vehicles must pass each year.
Nil defect report
A nil defect report records that a driver carried out a walkaround check and found nothing wrong.
Defect rectification
Defect rectification is the repair of a reported fault and the record of it.
Maintenance planner
A maintenance planner is the forward schedule of safety inspections, services and tests for every vehicle and trailer on an operator licence, usually planned months ahead..
Brake test
A brake test measures braking performance, most reliably on a roller brake tester.
Tyre check
A tyre check covers tread depth, pressure, condition and matching across an axle.
Wheel security
Wheel security is the assurance that wheels are correctly fitted and their fixings correctly torqued.
Load security
Load security is restraining a load so it cannot move in normal driving or in emergency braking.
Lighting check
A lighting check confirms that all obligatory lamps, indicators and reflectors work and are clean and correctly aimed.
Mirrors and field of vision
Mirrors and field of vision cover everything that determines what a driver can see — mirrors, glass, cameras and detection systems — and whether blind spots around the vehicle are managed..
Bodywork and coupling
Bodywork and coupling covers the structural condition of the vehicle and, for articulated combinations, the security of the connection between unit and trailer..
Fluid leak
A fluid leak is any loss of oil, fuel, coolant or hydraulic fluid from a vehicle.
Brakes and air lines
Brakes and air lines cover the braking system a driver can check before use — warning lights, air build, audible leaks, and the condition of the lines between unit and trailer..
Drivers & hours
Tachograph
A tachograph is the device fitted to a vehicle that records driving time, other work, breaks and rest.
Drivers' hours rules
The drivers' hours rules limit how long a driver may drive, how long they may work, and the breaks and rest they must take.
Driver infringement
A driver infringement is a breach of the drivers' hours or working time rules identified from tachograph data.
Driver card
A driver card is the smart card that records a driver's activity across every vehicle they use.
Missing mileage
Missing mileage is a discrepancy where a vehicle has moved with no driver card inserted.
Tachograph analysis
Tachograph analysis is processing downloaded data to identify breaches of drivers' hours and working time rules, and to find gaps and discrepancies in the record..
Driving time
Driving time is time spent at the controls of a vehicle in motion, recorded automatically by the tachograph.
Break and rest
Breaks interrupt driving during a shift; rest periods separate one shift from the next.
Other work
Other work is time a driver spends working that is not driving — loading, unloading, vehicle checks, paperwork.
Working time
Working time rules limit the total time a mobile worker spends working, separately from the drivers' hours rules.
Enforcement & standards
Prohibition notice
A prohibition notice is an order issued by a DVSA examiner or the police preventing a vehicle being used until a defect is put right.
OCRS
The Operator Compliance Risk Score is DVSA's assessment of how likely an operator is to be non-compliant, built from roadside and annual test history.
DVSA Earned Recognition
DVSA Earned Recognition is a voluntary scheme in which operators share maintenance and drivers' hours data against set key performance indicators, and in return are less likely to be stopped at the roadside..
Traffic Commissioner
A Traffic Commissioner is the independent regulator responsible for licensing goods and passenger vehicle operators, and for the conduct of operators, transport managers and vocational drivers..
FORS
FORS is a voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators covering vehicles, drivers, management and performance, assessed at bronze, silver and gold levels..
Roadside encounter
A roadside encounter is a DVSA or police stop and inspection of a vehicle in use.
A–Z
- Annual test
- Bodywork and coupling
- Brake test
- Brakes and air lines
- Break and rest
- Defect rectification
- Driver card
- Driver CPC
- Driver defect report
- Driver infringement
- Driver licence check
- Drivers' hours rules
- Driving time
- DVSA Earned Recognition
- Fluid leak
- FORS
- Lighting check
- Load security
- Maintenance planner
- Mirrors and field of vision
- Missing mileage
- Nil defect report
- OCRS
- Operating centre
- Operator licence
- Other work
- Preventative maintenance inspection
- Prohibition notice
- Public inquiry
- Roadside encounter
- Roadworthiness
- Tachograph
- Tachograph analysis
- Traffic Commissioner
- Transport manager
- Tyre check
- Walkaround check
- Wheel security
- Working time
More terms are being added. These pages explain what the words mean; they are not a substitute for advice from your transport manager or a transport lawyer.