xfmatt:
One other potential problem to my application is the guy acting as my TM is currently employed full time as a driver and usually does around 60 hours per week.
It would appear that this is a problem as I rung the office in Leeds today and they said if this guy is a full time driver doing 60 hours a week they will need a covering letter to explain to them where he is going to find the time to be my TM. Understandably he doesn’t want to incriminate himself in anyway and also doesn’t want the TM bothering his employer by asking him for proof of his working hours by his tacho’s. Pretty stuck on this one at the moment just when I thought everything was falling into place!
Matt, I fixed this quote too. dd.
This is worse than losing sattelite signal half way through a good film, what happend?
If you are a full time worker basically under the new rules you cannot act as a TM for another operator if you are working more than 40 hours a week.If you are doing 40 hours,you could do 8 hours as a TM for someone else.Under the WTD you would not be allowed to do anymore.
shuttlespanker:
so, how does an OD who has got his own CPC and wants to be his own TM go on wit it then?
When I got mine in May2010 they didn’t have a problem with it but I know it has been posted on here that one chap who was going from sole trader to limited company (might have been jimmy2loads) that they weren’t happy with him being driver, CPC holder and company director as they didn’t feel he would have time to adequately perform all his duties. The solution was for him to resign as company director (leaving his wife as sole director) and just do the other two.
I am currently in the process of applying for my first standard national operators licence and as i’m new to it all was wondering if anyone on here that has any experience of it would be willing to give me a few pointers!
First of all the form asks for a signed maintenance contract which is actually supplied with the papers and simply requires filling on the gaps. It then asks for a safety inspection schedule but as I haven’t actually got a unit or trailer yet it is impossible to map out my inspection schedule as this will depend on when I buy them as to when I require my first 6 week check. If this means I must show them a model of an inspection schedule do any of you have a copy which I may get an idea from.
Also I am using a friend as my Transport Manager and it asks to enclose a contract of employment with said person. Just wondered to what detail I have to go into on this form, i.e remuneration, holidays etc, as he doesn’t actually want any money for doing so. Will the Traffic Commisioner be able to check that I am paying my TM accordingly?
I am looking to get my business up and running as soon as possible and so will require an interim licence (hopefully). Does anyone have any experience of being granted an interim licence and is this very likely as this is my first licence I am applying for rather than an amendment to an existing licence?
As a new business I obviously don’t have 3 months of bank statements to show I have the adequate level of funds to satisfy the operators licence requirements. I have been told that evidence of a sufficient overdraft facility will be acceptable for this and they may add a condition to my licence to be able to prove my financial standing in 3 months time. Is this true?
Any other advice which you feel may help me in any way with this application will be greatly appreciated.
firstly, the maintenance contract, you cannot get one until you have the unit, what you need is a Letter of Intent from the person/garage who will be servicing your vehicle when you get one
as for the inspection schedule, fill it in for 6 weekly from date of purchase
personally, i wouldn’t bother with the interim licence, they will only grant an interim IF the full licence has been approved, and it will only be about a week or two difference between them both arriving on your doorstep, not worth the money for such a short space of time
as for the contract of employment for the TM, sorry, can’t answer that, they never asked me for it when i applied
have you got your operating center sorted out yet? you will need a letter from the land owner stating how many vehicles and trailers you can park there, ask him for 2 spaces, 1 for the unit and 1 for the trailer, also, this letter must have a date as to when you can park there from, not just a ‘as and when required’, that will be returned asking for more info
xfmatt:
I am looking to get my business up and running as soon as possible and so will require an interim licence (hopefully). Does anyone have any experience of being granted an interim licence and is this very likely as this is my first licence I am applying for rather than an amendment to an existing licence?
My interim and full licences were only a week apart but to me it was worth every penny as I had everything else ready to go and in that week I earned a lot more than the cost of the interim licence.
xfmatt:
As a new business I obviously don’t have 3 months of bank statements to show I have the adequate level of funds to satisfy the operators licence requirements. I have been told that evidence of a sufficient overdraft facility will be acceptable for this and they may add a condition to my licence to be able to prove my financial standing in 3 months time. Is this true?
They happily took a £5k overdraft as part of the required £8.1k when I applied for mine last year.
repton:
My interim and full licences were only a week apart but to me it was worth every penny as I had everything else ready to go and in that week I earned a lot more than the cost of the interim licence.
Exactly. With the cost of the interim being £66 quid it will be well worth it if I can get 1 or 2 weeks earnings in before my full license comes!
repton:
They happily took a £5k overdraft as part of the required £8.1k when I applied for mine last year.
Yeah I thought that was right and i do have a sufficient overdraft facility to cover the £8100.
repton:
My interim and full licences were only a week apart but to me it was worth every penny as I had everything else ready to go and in that week I earned a lot more than the cost of the interim licence.
Exactly. With the cost of the interim being £66 quid it will be well worth it if I can get 1 or 2 weeks earnings in before my full license comes!
repton:
They happily took a £5k overdraft as part of the required £8.1k when I applied for mine last year.
Yeah I thought that was right and i do have a sufficient overdraft facility to cover the £8100.
One other potential problem to my application is the guy acting as my TM is currently employed full time as a driver and usually does around 60 hours per week. Will they pick up on this and say he can’t possibly dedicate 8 hours to my business when he is employed elsewhere and doing excessive hours? I mean technically a driver can do 3 15’s and 2 13’s which is 71 hours total so that should leave him clear for 8 hours dedicated to me. Although I really do feel 8 hours is excessive anyway as all that will be required is that he checks my tacho’s for the week, my defect book and weight tickets to make sure i haven’t been running overweight. This may take a little longer when safety inspections and services have been performed but still not 8 hours for a one man band surely!?
I imagine, if the TC has any doubt about your application, he is going to question it, however no one is guaranteed 71 hours per week, so just tell them what he wants to hear, unless you are applying for a mortgage
xfmatt:
One other potential problem to my application is the guy acting as my TM is currently employed full time as a driver and usually does around 60 hours per week.
It would appear that this is a problem as I rung the office in Leeds today and they said if this guy is a full time driver doing 60 hours a week they will need a covering letter to explain to them where he is going to find the time to be my TM. Understandably he doesn’t want to incriminate himself in anyway and also doesn’t want the TM bothering his employer by asking him for proof of his working hours by his tacho’s. Pretty stuck on this one at the moment just when I thought everything was falling into place!
