Temporarily operating more vehicles than authorised to meet an urgent public demand

Temporarily operating more vehicles than authorised to meet an urgent public demand

You will need to ask a traffic commissioner to grant a temporary exemption (in writing) from any requirement to hold a standard licence, which would otherwise be imposed by sections 2 and 3 of the Goods Vehicle (Licensing of Operators) Act. In summary this allows for a restricted licence holder to operate for hire or reward, an existing licence holder to temporarily use more vehicles than the licence authorises or for someone who does not hold a licence to use a goods vehicle for hire or reward or in connection with a business.

Traffic commissioners will only consider the use of this power on receipt of a written request from the person/entity proposing to operate. All requests setting out the proposal and justification should be sent to Enquiries@otc.gov.uk. A traffic commissioner will need to be satisfied that an applicant is not unfit to engage in road transport. Additionally, a traffic commissioner may check that:

• the applicant in not insolvent
• there are no outstanding maintenance or other issues, which might impact on road safety
• this is not an attempt to avoid responsibility for alleged failures in compliance
• the applicant has satisfactory facilities and arrangements for maintaining the vehicles used under the exemption in a fit and serviceable condition.

The traffic commissioner must be satisfied that the exemption is necessary for the purpose of enabling an emergency to be dealt with (in this case, the Covid-19), or enabling some other special need to be met (arising from Covid-19).

The traffic commissioner must also be satisfied that the applicant is engaged exclusively in national transport operations, which hasa minor impact on the transport market due to  the nature of goods carried, or the short distance the goods are carried. In the exceptional circumstances of the outbreak, the Senior Traffic Commissioner has advised the traffic commissioners that they are entitled to rely on a declaration to that effect signed by person or officer of the corporate entity.

For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/senior-traffic-commissioner-issues-a-statutory-document-in-response-to-the-covid-19-outbreak