is it allowed for northern Ireland operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being mainland based stating his operating centre is Belfast even tho the trucks only ever go back to ni for six week inspections without a uk operting centre or olicence advice please
In a word, no.
In a few more words, he is guilty of using an unauthorised operating centre. Actually, that might be nonsense because there is a different system in NI isn’t there? So it could be possible that he’s technically operating without a valid o-licence. I’m not 100% sure on that one. Either way what he’s doing is illegal.
Paul
easy2004:
is it allowed for northern Ireland operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being mainland based stating his operating centre is Belfast even tho the trucks only ever go back to ni for six week inspections without a uk operting centre or olicence advice please
On the basis of the limited info you’ve given, the operator appears to be doing nothing wrong. He/She is N.I based so no cabbotage to speak of, the trucks are being maintained at their home base according to a schedule, and presumably the operator has a valid N.I O’licence and operatinge centre.
repton:
In a few more words, he is guilty of using an unauthorised operating centre.
Evidence please? You appear to be making a pretty wild accusation there, either that or you don’t really understand the definition of an operating centre!
repton:
So it could be possible that he’s technically operating without a valid o-licence.
Again, what evidence do you have of this? By your line of thinking it’s entirely possible that Henry VII was technically an astronaut. 
repton:
Either way what he’s doing is illegal.
Quite the opposite, all the evidence that you (and I) have on which to base a decision would suggest that the operator in question is doing nothing wrong! 
Gogan:
repton:
In a few more words, he is guilty of using an unauthorised operating centre.Evidence please? You appear to be making a pretty wild accusation there, either that or you don’t really understand the definition of an operating centre!
VOSA and the NI authorities both define an operating centre as “where you keep your vehicles when they’re not in use”. Now unless this operator is using all his vehicles that are based at the customer’s site 24 hours a day while they’re there (which I think it’s fair to assume he’s not unless he’s double shifting them with a driver ready to jump in as soon as another jumps out, or unless he has a tramper in the vehicle for 6 weeks at a time until he takes it home to NI for an inspection which again I would suggest is unlikely), he’s guilty of using an unauthorised operating centre.
Think about is this way - the OP seems to suggest that the vehicles aren’t ever actually parked in their authorised operating centre, unless that also happens to be where the 6 weekly inspections occur. If it is possible to have an operating centre that you never actually use and it still be legal that would rather make a mockery of the whole system.
As another point to back up my argument I recall reading in Commercial Motor not so long ago about a concrete mixer operator who had a few mixers on franchise to one of the big concrete firms who has his licence restricted and a fine given to him as they found he was operating a couple of his mixers out of one of his customer’s plants that he didn’t have specified on his o-licence which is exactly the same “operating out of a customer’s site” scenario that is implied by the OP’s question.
Paul
This may not alter Paul’s take on the situation but it is worth remembering that Northern Ireland is in the United Kingdom so an operating centre in NI is not outside the UK.
Spardo:
This may not alter Paul’s take on the situation but it is worth remembering that Northern Ireland is in the United Kingdom so an operating centre in NI is not outside the UK.
They are indeed in the UK however in NI they have a different operator licencing system to ours here in GB.
That said even if the operator and his customer were both in GB my views would be the same. If an operator wishes to base his vehicles permanently at his customer’s site then said site should be listed on his licence as an operating centre. This is backed up by the fact that you frequently see mention in A&D of big name hauliers applying to have their customers sites added to their o-licences as operating centres. If this wasn’t necessary I’m sure they wouldn’t go to the trouble.
I’m not sure how the practicalities of it should work if the operation, as in this case, spans both NI and GB. I don’t know if you can specify an operating centre in GB on an NI licence. If not then I would guess the operator, should he wish to remain legal, might well need a separate O-Licence to cover his GB operating centre(s), hence my comments in my first reply about the fact that he might be technically operating the vehicles without a valid o-licence.
Paul
easy2004:
is it allowed for northern Ireland operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being mainland based stating his operating centre is Belfast even tho the trucks only ever go back to ni for six week inspections without a uk operting centre or olicence advice please
If you name the company then a simple search in the VOSA site may put your mind at rest
repton:
If an operator wishes to base his vehicles permanently at his customer’s site then said site should be listed on his licence as an operating centre.
It is as simple as that!
is it allowed for Scottish operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being England based? stating his operating centre is Glasgow even tho the trucks only ever go back to Glasgow for six week inspections without an English operting centre or olicence advice please.
I dont see the difference if this was the scenario… as for the units returning to base, why could the not
park them on the road of the industrial estate where they are working out off with the curtains pulled?
first part of the post I have only changed the place names of OP 
olz69:
is it allowed for Scottish operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being England based? stating his operating centre is Glasgow even tho the trucks only ever go back to Glasgow for six week inspections without an English operting centre or olicence advice please.I dont see the difference if this was the scenario… as for the units returning to base, why could the not
park them on the road of the industrial estate where they are working out off with the curtains pulled?first part of the post I have only changed the place names of OP
They do not even have to go back to base for inspection, that can be done at a local dealer or anywhere with the facility. There are dozens of outbased drivers who only ever go back to base to get a new vehicle every 3 years
olz69:
is it allowed for Scottish operator to to base his buisness from his only customer being England based? stating his operating centre is Glasgow even tho the trucks only ever go back to Glasgow for six week inspections without an English operting centre or olicence advice please.
If you “keep your vehicles when they’re not in use” at a customer’s site then you are using the customer’s site as an operating centre and so if you wish to remain legal then you should have that site listed as an operating centre on your o-licence. That is true regardless of what country (within the UK) the operator is based in and what country (within the UK) the customer is based in.
Paul
Something doesn’t quite add up to me. Why would they spend over £400 sending a unit home to get a 6 weekly inspection when it could be done locally for less than £50. In any event the licensing system is far more relaxed over here so very few operators actually bother with 6 weekly checks. I’ve never had to take a truck for one in 25 years driving. They get serviced or repaired but I’ve never went in just for an inspection.
The N.I. ministry are a joke so they won’t take a blind bit of notice whether the trucks are parked in the operating centre or not. I park at home as do a huge number of drivers with no problems.
Not sure what VOSA could do as it’s not cabotage so they can’t send them home and they have no power over an N.I. Operators license. VOSA can’t even do anything if they stop a N. Irish truck that doesn’t have an Operators License.
maurice:
Not sure what VOSA could do as it’s not cabotage so they can’t send them home and they have no power over an N.I. Operators license. VOSA can’t even do anything if they stop a N. Irish truck that doesn’t have an Operators License.
VOSA might not directly have power over an NI O-Licence but they do have ultimate power over any truck from any country that is on the road in GB and if they feel it is running illegally they can take it off the road and ultimately confiscate it if it is found to be running without a valid o-licence.
Paul
repton:
maurice:
Not sure what VOSA could do as it’s not cabotage so they can’t send them home and they have no power over an N.I. Operators license. VOSA can’t even do anything if they stop a N. Irish truck that doesn’t have an Operators License.VOSA might not directly have power over an NI O-Licence but they do have ultimate power over any truck from any country that is on the road in GB and if they feel it is running illegally they can take it off the road and ultimately confiscate it if it is found to be running without a valid o-licence.
Paul
Not at the side of the road they can’t unless its changed in the past year or so. They have no access to non GB O license details so they have no way of knowing why the vehicle isn’t displaying a disc. I’ve been stopped 10-15 times with no disc and never had any problems.
They can and have seized vehicles from operators who have flagged out, but that’s after a long drawn out investigation where the operators have fallen foul of the cabotage rules, thereby needing a GB operators license.