Goods Vehicle Licensing

Under the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 anybody driving or operating a vehicle weighing more than 3.5 tonnes and used for trade or business purposes must apply for a special licence.

People need an operator’s licence even if they only use the vehicle for a one-off purpose.

Examples of the kind of vehicles requiring a licence include buses, coaches or goods lorries.

There are some exceptions, such as vehicles used by emergency services.

Anybody bidding for a licence must advertise their application so that people can make their views known before any decision is made.

The timescale for commenting will be contained within the public notice and it is important that you respond within this timescale.

For further details of Goods Vehicle Licensing legislation, you can visit legislation.gov.uk.

You can find goods vehicle licence applications in your area by using the simple Public Notice Portal map and search facilities.