If you run HGVs, you already do compliance work every week: downloading tachograph data, checking drivers’ hours, chasing walkround checks and remembering MOTs and inspections. The question is whether you do it with paper, spreadsheets and memory, or with software that does the remembering for you.
What the rules ask of you
The operator, not just the driver, is responsible for tachograph data. GOV.UK’s guidance for goods vehicle operators says driver cards must be downloaded at least every 28 days and vehicle units at least every 90 days. The data then has to be kept and checked for infringements, so that problems are found and dealt with before an examiner finds them. At a Traffic Commissioner hearing, “we did not know” is a weak position.
On top of that sit the walkround checks your drivers do, the maintenance inspections (PMIs) on your safety inspection schedule, MOT and tax dates, driver licence checks and driver CPC. None of these is difficult on its own. Together, across ten or twenty vehicles and a similar number of drivers, they are a lot to keep track of.
Where spreadsheets stop working
- Dates drift. A spreadsheet only works while someone remembers to open it. Software tells you what is due before it is overdue.
- Nothing links together. A defect reported on Monday, the mechanic’s worksheet, the PMI that followed and the driver who reported it end up in four places. You need them in one vehicle file.
- Infringements need an audit trail. Examiners want to see that you spotted an infringement, spoke to the driver and acted. A signed, dated record beats an email trail.
- People leave. When the person who “knows where everything is” goes, the system goes with them.
Features worth looking for
- Easy tachograph downloads. Drag-and-drop upload at the very least. Better, new downloads picked up automatically from your PC.
- The right rules, in plain English. Both the drivers’ hours rules (EC 561/2006) and the Working Time rules, with each infringement explained, not just a code.
- Hours remaining. Seeing who is close to a limit lets you plan, and stops infringements happening in the first place.
- A driver sign-off and audit step. The driver sees and signs their own infringements, the Transport Manager approves them, and the signed record goes into the driver’s file.
- Daily walkround checks that feed the vehicle file. A check done on the driver’s phone, with red, amber and green defects, photos, and an immediate alert for anything that means the vehicle must not be driven.
- A maintenance planner. MOT, PMI, tax, tachograph calibration, brake tests and LOLER on one calendar, with repeating intervals.
- Driver files and licence checks. One place for licence, CPC, induction, training and letters, with expiry warnings.
- Document filing that saves you time. Drop a document in and have it recognised and filed on the right driver or vehicle.
- Reports you can hand over. An audit pack you can download in one go when an examiner or auditor asks.
- Honest pricing. Ask whether the price is per vehicle or per driver, whether driver numbers are capped, and whether you are tied into a long contract.
- A UK company you can phone, with data handled under UK data protection law.
Keep it simple
More features is not better. The best system is the one your Transport Manager actually opens every morning. Look for a clear dashboard that shows what needs attention today, not a hundred menus.
Where OperatorSafe fits
OperatorSafe is built around exactly this list: driver checks, fleet records, a maintenance planner, driver files and tachograph analysis, with unlimited drivers and checks on every plan, from £49 a month. If you would like to see it, talk to us.
If you do not have a Transport Manager, or yours is stretched, HGV Consult can introduce an external Transport Manager.
See what OperatorSafe does
Driver checks, vehicle and driver files, maintenance planning and tachograph analysis. Unlimited drivers, from £49 a month.
More guides
- How to get a digital tachograph company card, and what it lets you do
- How to download a digital tachograph vehicle unit, step by step
- How to download a driver card, and how often you must
- What time should a tachograph be set to? (It’s UTC)