Overview

Vehicle operators with a standard national or international operator’s licence need to have a transport manager.

What a transport manager does

As a transport manager, you need to make sure that:

  • drivers have a valid licence
  • vehicles are taxed and insured
  • vehicles have a valid MOT and are properly maintained
  • vehicles are loaded safely and not overloaded
  • drivers do not speed or break the drivers’ hours rules
  • the vehicle operator does not break safety rules

You can be called to appear before a traffic commissioner’s public inquiry if the vehicle operator breaks the law. You can be permanently or temporarily banned from being a transport manager if the traffic commissioner finds that you’re responsible - for example, if staff loaded a vehicle in an unsafe way because they were not properly trained.

The traffic commissioner can also make you complete further training before you can work as a transport manager again.

Find out about what you need to do as a transport manager.

If you’re in Northern Ireland, the public enquiry will be held by the Transport Regulation Unit instead of the traffic commissioner.

Becoming a transport manager

You need a professional qualification called the Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) to become a transport manager. You do not need a driving licence.

After you’re qualified, a vehicle operator needs to apply to add you as their transport manager on their operator’s licence.

You must be approved by the traffic commissioner before you start work - or the Transport Regulation Unit if you’re in Northern Ireland. You may not be approved if you’ve been convicted of a crime or given a penalty for breaking UK or EU transport laws.

You must keep your knowledge up to date to continue working as a transport manager.

Working for more than one vehicle operator

You can either:

  • be employed by a single vehicle operator - called an ‘internal transport manager’
  • work as a freelance transport manager for more than one vehicle operator - called an ‘external transport manager’

You can work as a freelance transport manager for up to 4 different vehicle operators at a time. The maximum total number of vehicles you can manage is 50. You need to have a contract with each operator that sets out what you’ll do.