Hello folks and thanks in advance for any replies. I am an external T/M and I have been approached to be T/M for a new operator. He has four trucks working at present but has only applied for two of them on his O licence due to being only able to £11.5 K funds. He recons he can set up a limited company and hire the other two into himself. My question is is this legal and if not any suggestions that would stand up? I have had two premises inspections in the last year for other operators and they went very well and I don’t want my good repute being negatively affected by this new operator. Thanks again.
pizzalover2:
Hello folks and thanks in advance for any replies. I am an external T/M and I have been approached to be T/M for a new operator. He has four trucks working at present but has only applied for two of them on his O licence due to being only able to £11.5 K funds. He recons he can set up a limited company and hire the other two into himself. My question is is this legal and if not any suggestions that would stand up? I have had two premises inspections in the last year for other operators and they went very well and I don’t want my good repute being negatively affected by this new operator. Thanks again.
Not knowing the in’s ad out’s of how or what a hire company need in ways of an O licence I cant see it happening.
Not only that I think you can only hire in for 30 days before it needs to show on your licence and by taking off hire then back on hire after the weekend wouldn’t work as who else would he be hiring out to …think of it another way Tesco and ASDA to name but a few would have exploited this years ago 
pizzalover2:
Hello folks and thanks in advance for any replies. I am an external T/M
pizzalover2:
I have been approached to be T/M for a new operator.
He has four trucks working at present but has only applied for two of them on his O licence due to being only able to £11.5 K funds. He recons he can set up a limited company and hire the other two into himself. My question is is this legal and if not any suggestions that would stand up?
So does he have an O’licence at present? If he is operating truck already without one he’s already operating illegally, even if he has applied for one.
If he’s only got space for 2 truck on his O’licence than he can only operate 2 trucks, regardless whether they are hired from another company or not, this is why the DVSA suggest you have extra capacity (margin) to cover permanent or temporary expansion or the need to hire a truck to cover for one off the road.
pizzalover2:
I have had two premises inspections in the last year for other operators and they went very well and I don’t want my good repute being negatively affected by this new operator. Thanks again.
I’d let somebody else take that job, the bloke sounds a bit dodgy.
muckles:
pizzalover2:
Hello folks and thanks in advance for any replies. I am an external T/Mpizzalover2:
I have been approached to be T/M for a new operator.
He has four trucks working at present but has only applied for two of them on his O licence due to being only able to £11.5 K funds. He recons he can set up a limited company and hire the other two into himself. My question is is this legal and if not any suggestions that would stand up?So does he have an O’licence at present? If he is operating truck already without one he’s already operating illegally, even if he has applied for one.
If he’s only got space for 2 truck on his O’licence than he can only operate 2 trucks, regardless whether they are hired from another company or not, this is why the DVSA suggest you have extra capacity (margin) to cover permanent or temporary expansion or the need to hire a truck to cover for one off the road.
pizzalover2:
I have had two premises inspections in the last year for other operators and they went very well and I don’t want my good repute being negatively affected by this new operator. Thanks again.I’d let somebody else take that job, the bloke sounds a bit dodgy.
+1
Go with what the boys have said … what I was thinking was that if you hire you don’t need to display the Licence in the windscreen unless its on hire for 30+ straight days
nick2008:
Go with what the boys have said … what I was thinking was that if you hire you don’t need to display the Licence in the windscreen unless its on hire for 30+ straight days
You are right, it allows you to have a vehicle on short term hire without applying for a disc, but the vehicle are still run on your O’lienvce so if you don’t have the capacity you can’t run them legally.
muckles:
nick2008:
Go with what the boys have said … what I was thinking was that if you hire you don’t need to display the Licence in the windscreen unless its on hire for 30+ straight daysYou are right, it allows you to have a vehicle on short term hire without applying for a disc, but the vehicle are still run on your O’lienvce so if you don’t have the capacity you can’t run them legally.
yeah I thought about that after I read what Si said.
Hire and reward.
He needs an olicence
Thing is mate if you are TM you should know that what he is suggesting is well bent. Only proviso to that is, when you say he is running trucks now, doing what and at what weight?
Thanks for your replies and have confirmed what I thought. He has a small waste collection business but has been offered subby work from one of the big waste operators he tips with. Cheers lads.
Just out of interest.
What does an external transport manager charge?
I won’t do it for less than £150/week for basic operation.
What’s a basic operation then? 1 truck?
Sorry mate, two trucks. I would also drive for the operator the odd day to make sure everything is as it should be and help with the business in terms of costings, staff training, recruitment and basically making sure the operator is making money.
If he cant put up money for trucks on o licence doesn’t sound very well financed,do you reckon youl get paid? 
you’ve already been answered however this is the internet so I get to give my opinion.
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Ne needs the margin on his O licence. The terms do not specify whether you hire trucks or own them, just that you must have specified the correct number to be able to cover all of the vehicles used by your operation. In real life terms this means X vehicles specified plus a margin of Y (so that you can hire in if necessary etc)
Therefore if his Licence says 2 trucks, that’s what he can legally operate. I wouldn’t even hire a truck for a day if I didn’t have the margin for it. -
You can hire a truck for up to 30 days without putting it on the Licence - absolutely correct. And yes, a lot of hire company’s and operators think they can get around this by hiring the vehicle month to month - also true. Now explain it to the TC when Mr DVSA produces the paperwork trail to show that you have been hiring the same truck for a year and operating it without putting it on the O licence. I would even argue that physically swapping the vehicle for another every 30 days would not provide sufficient mitigation if you were doing this over a long period of time.
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I wouldn’t want my name anywhere near his O licence if he thinks he’s smart enough to beat the system. If he can’t prove finance what’s he going to do when something expensive goes on a truck?
Thanks guys I’ll let that one pass.