Tag: department of transport

The End of the Paper Driving License – where to go from here

logo_smartlicence_page_headerFrom June 2015, the paper part of your drivers licence is no longer valid.

Essential information was held on the paper license, including points, bans etc.

This information is vital to the Transport Manager, to be able to know who is entitled to drive the company’s vehicles.

All employers have a duty of care to ensure any employee that is required to drive on behalf of the company is correctly licensed and entitled to drive.

MORE? » SmartLicence is a licence checking system that runs with SmartAnalysis.

A visual driving licence check once a year is not enough. Things can change very quickly and licence details should be verified with DVLA at least twice a year.

On high risk drivers, you can have an update every month.

According to statistics from DVLA:

  • 22% of drivers are using out of date documents
  • 1 million drivers in the UK are just 3 points away from a disqualification
  • Around 250,000 drivers are disqualified every year.

SmartLicence is a comprehensive online tool for managing driving licences and verifying the licence details with the DVLA. SmartLicence allows you to assess the risk of licensed drivers and conduct regular checks with the DVLA in accordance with that risk. SmartLicence provides a historical log of checks and any changes to the licence details demonstrating to the authorities that you have systems and processes in place to ensure staff are licensed to drive. As with Smartanalysis your data is secure, managed in accordance with ISO27001, backed up and always available wherever you have internet access.

Once set up the licence checks happen in the background. You will receive a report indicating which licences are due for a check and an opportunity to remove them so that you do not pay for drivers that no longer work for your organisation. SmartLicence also uses SmartAlerts to send you an automatic email alerts for issues that you may wish to take immediate action on.

For more information speak to our technical team at: 01472 210102

Possible Speed Limit Change

New Speed Limit 50mphThe government are currently in consultation regarding increasing the speed limit on single carriageways for HGV’s over 7.5 tonnes from the current 40mph to 50mph matching the limit for HGV’s between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes.
» Read More Here

The consultation closes on 01st February 2013.
Watch this space for updates on the outcome.

Proposed 90 day period for Tachograph Data Downloads

 The Department for Transport planning to consult on tachograph data downloads…

Digital Tachograph DownloadsAccording to “Commercial Motor” magazine website the UK Government want to extend the period allowed for Transport Operators to download Digital Tachograph data from 56 days to 90 days.

These proposed plans to extend the time required between tachograph data downloads is an effort to ease the regulatory burden on UK hauliers and operators and remove barriers for industry growth.

The current regulations state that operators must download tacho’ data from vehicle units at least every 56 days, but the government is proposing to increase this to 90 days.

The idea was proposed in a DfT Logistics Growth Review published last year, but was thought to have been originally suggested in the Red Tape Challenge earlier in 2011.

However, the Freight Transport Association said it wasn’t aware of members raising time limits as a problem.

For more information on storage, download and analysis of digital tachograph data and card readers please check out our free “Guide to Digital Tachographs” or visit or website.