Skip to main content

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

View cookies

You can change your cookie settings at any time.

GOV.UK

Navigation menu

  • Topics

    Find information and services

    • Benefits
    • Births, death, marriages and care
    • Business and self-employed
    • Childcare and parenting
    • Citizenship and living in the UK
    • Crime, justice and the law
    • Disabled people
    • Driving and transport
    • Education and learning
    • Employing people
    • Environment and countryside
    • Housing and local services
    • Money and tax
    • Passports, travel and living abroad
    • Visas and immigration
    • Working, jobs and pensions
  • Government activity

    Search for a department and find out what the government is doing

    • Departments

      Departments, agencies and public bodies

    • News

      News stories, speeches, letters and notices

    • Guidance and regulation

      Detailed guidance, regulations and rules

    • Research and statistics

      Reports, analysis and official statistics

    • Policy papers and consultations

      Consultations and strategy

    • Transparency

      Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports


    • How government works
    • Get involved

Search

Search GOV.UK

Popular on GOV.UK

  • Moving to the UK from Ukraine
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Find a job
  • Check benefits and financial support you can get
  • Universal Credit account: sign in
  1. Home
  2. Driving and transport
  3. Transport and driving businesses

Being a goods vehicle operator

Skip to contents of guide

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Types of licence
  3. Apply for a licence
  4. Fees for goods vehicle licences
  5. Operating centres
  6. Maintaining your vehicles
  7. Employing or using drivers
  8. Make changes to your licence
  9. What happens if you break the terms of your licence
  10. Exemptions

Employing or using drivers

If you employ or give work to drivers, you must check that they have the correct licence and training to drive goods vehicles.

Professional lorry drivers need to hold a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC).

If you employ or give work to foreign drivers, you should make sure they understand the rules for driving in the UK. There are guides for foreign HGV drivers in 6 languages.

Previous : Maintaining your vehicles
Next : Make changes to your licence
View a printable version of the whole guide

Related content

  • Apply for a vehicle operator licence
  • Manage your vehicle operator licence
  • Traffic commissioner public inquiries
  • Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS)
  • Manage your commercial vehicle compliance
  • + 2 more
  • Taking a lorry abroad and Haulage jobs in the EU

Explore the topic

  • Transport and driving businesses
  • Transporting goods

Is this page useful?

  • Maybe
Thank you for your feedback

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

Help us improve GOV.UK

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Don’t worry we won’t send you spam or share your email address with anyone.

Topics

  • Benefits
  • Births, death, marriages and care
  • Business and self-employed
  • Childcare and parenting
  • Citizenship and living in the UK
  • Crime, justice and the law
  • Disabled people
  • Driving and transport
  • Education and learning
  • Employing people
  • Environment and countryside
  • Housing and local services
  • Money and tax
  • Passports, travel and living abroad
  • Visas and immigration
  • Working, jobs and pensions

Government activity

  • Departments
  • News
  • Guidance and regulation
  • Research and statistics
  • Policy papers and consultations
  • Transparency
  • How government works
  • Get involved

Support links

  • Help
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility statement
  • Contact
  • Terms and conditions
  • Rhestr o Wasanaethau Cymraeg
  • Government Digital Service
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated
© Crown copyright