Apply for a vehicle operator licence
Your vehicles
You’ll be asked for your vehicles’ registration number and weight. If you do not have your vehicle details yet you can provide them later.
Decide how you’ll maintain your vehicles
When you apply, you need to declare how often your vehicles will be inspected and who is responsible for the inspections.
Once you have an operator licence, you’ll need to carry out safety inspections of your vehicles.
You’ll need to provide the contact details of your safety inspectors. If you’re using a different company for your safety inspections, you’ll need a contract.
Where you’ll keep your vehicles
The place you normally keep your vehicles is known as an operating centre.
You need to make sure that the operating centre you’re planning to use has:
- safe access
- off-street parking spaces for all the vehicles and trailers you want to keep there
- permission from the site owner to park there
When you apply, you need to give the following information about any operating centres you’re planning to use:
- address
- numbers of trailers and vehicles you’ll keep there
If you’re applying for a goods vehicle operator licence, you also need to be able to show that your operating centre will not disturb people living nearby. This includes:
- noise
- fumes
- pollution
- vibration
- visual intrusion
The Traffic Commissioner may ask you to provide evidence of this to support your application or ask you to attend a public inquiry.
If you have more than one operating centre
You need a separate operator licence for each traffic area where you have an operating centre.
In England, Wales and Scotland, there are 8 traffic areas. There is 1 traffic area in Northern Ireland.