Blog posts about Compliance

Breathalyser fines delayed indefinitely in France

The French Minister of Interior has announced an indefinite delay on the fines for motorists that do not carry a breathalyser kit with them in their vehicle.…

HGV Road User Levy Act starts 1 April 2014

The HGV Road User Levy Act 2013 imposes charges for vehicles over 12 tonnes gross vehicle weight for using UK roads.  The act applies to UK…

HGV driver fined £1000 for tachograph offences

A HGV driver has been fined £1,000 for tachograph and drivers’ hours offences after admitting thirteen charges when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court. On 11 dates in March…

New guidance on drivers’ hours and tachographs

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has updated the published guidance on drivers’ hours and tachographs. The guidance is for drivers and road transport operators…

Driver CPC Validation with SmartLicence

The latest release of Descartes’ SmartLicence online driving licence management and verification solution has been enhanced to accommodate Driver CPC and Digital Tachograph card validation. In September…

We are hiring – New opportunities at Descartes SmartCompliance

Due to continual strong growth in the Descartes SmartCompliance business we are seeking to fill a number of exciting new software development positions, see Software Developer.…

TfL reminds HGV operators to apply for free safety permits

Transport for London (TfL) is reminding all HGV operators that wish to drive in London to apply for their free safety permit before 1st March when…

Convictions for drivers’ hours and tachograph offences fall

According to the latest figures from VOSA the number of convictions for drivers’ hours and tachograph offences has almost halved since 2009. However, breaches of drivers’…

Smartanalysis gets smarter at the CV Show – Stand 4F118.

Descartes’ Smartanalysis, the UK’s leading tachogragraph analysis and compliance management Software as a Service has become even smarter with SmartLicence, an integrated driving licence management and…

The most complete lack of compliance ever seen?

The Traffic Commissioner for the North-east said a Middlesbrough minibus operator showed the “most complete lack of compliance” he has ever seen, as he revoked their…

12 month ban for drivers’ hours offences

A HGV driver has been given a 12-month ban by Nick Denton, the Traffic Commissioner for the South East and Metropolitan area, after he illegally used…

DVSA launch Earned Recognition Pilot

Roadside checks cost operators time and money. Earned Recognition will help the DVSA target non-compliant operators.   Earned Recognition proves that you meet driver and vehicle standards. …

Descartes launches its SmartDownload Telematics Hub for downloading tachograph data

Descartes is unveiling its fully integrated, complete range of smart compliance management solutions. At the CV Show, 30th April – 2nd May, NEC Birmingham, Stand 5G110,…

New DVLA tachograph driver card service

The new service launched by the DVLA will cut wait times and allows instant payments for tachograph driver cards. HGV, bus and coach drivers can now…

6 months in jail for tachograph fraud & abuse of drivers’ hours.

On Friday 4 January 2013 Mr G. Davidson from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire was jailed for six months at Carlisle Crown Court for tachograph fraud. The defendant was first…

Descartes Launches Driving Licence Management and Verification Service

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced the launch of Descartes SmartLicence™, an integrated driving licence management and verification service…

Tachograph rules changed for Farmers

From March 2015 farmers no longer need a tachograph fitted to their vehicles if the distance travelled is less than 100km from their operating base. Before…

Turners enhances driver compliance with Descartes’ SmartCompliance

Descartes Systems Group announced that one of the largest independent haulage companies in the UK, Turners (Soham) Ltd., is using Descartes’ SmartCompliance™ solutions to gain efficiencies and improve…

Banned for 3 years for vehicle maintenance & drivers’ hours infringements

The director of a Birmingham builders’ has been banned from operating HGVs for three years for showing no interest in vehicle and driver safety standards. The…

SmartCompliance in the news

Putting Digital at the heart of compliance management and how to unlock additional value from compliance data. Descartes SmartCompliance is featured in the latest issues of…

Suspended custodial sentence for tachograph cheat

On Monday 17th December 2012, Richard Samuel Dewart, 44, owner of Dewart Transport, Waringstown, Northern Ireland was convicted of forgery and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment,…

Transport Manager loses his repute over CPC training & drivers’ hours infringements

A Transport Manager recently lost his repute indefinitely for failing to make sure his drivers had started their Driver CPC training and the drivers’ hours infringements…

New integrated compliance management solutions at CV Show 15

Descartes will be showcasing its latest comprehensive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to help road transport operators achieve compliance at this year’s Commercial Vehicle (CV) Show taking place…

Smart tachograph specifications published

The Regulation on the new digital smart tachograph specifications was published on 27 May 2016. The digital tachograph was first introduced in 2006 as a device…

Three year ban for falsifying drivers’ hours & tachograph records

An HGV driver was banned from professional driving for three years after falsifying drivers’ hours and tachograph records. Government inspectors had found that the driver used…

Descartes in the News – FACTS Issue 152

Descartes is featured in the latest issue (152) of FACTS – The Pan-European Transport and Logistics Magazine. This issue focuses on compliance management with features on…

Custodial sentences for operating illegal tachograph centre

A father and son were handed custodial sentences for operating an illegal tachograph centre at Craigavon Court 20 November 2013. The sentences of two years six…

ILT increases fines for tachograph infringements in Netherlands

The Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) recently announced that the fines for manipulation of the tachograph will go up sharply. TLN the Dutch Association for Transport…

Driving without a digital tachograph driver card costs operator almost 3,000 Euros.

An Enniscorthy company was fined 2,500 Euros and ordered to pay costs of 400 Euros excluding VAT for a tachograph offence in 2014 in one of…

Coach operator disqualified for drivers’ hours offences

A Dundee coach operator has been disqualified for two years from 31 May 2016 by Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner after breaching drivers’ hours and tachograph rules that…

Driving tired is ‘worse than being on drugs’

According to recent research, driving in state of fatigue has contributed to more road accidents in Great Britain than those impaired by taking drugs. The study…

DVSA publish their 2018 to 2019 Annual Review

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency work hard to keep everyone safe on our roads. They have just published their Annual Report for 2018 to 2019.…

HGV Road User Levy Bill passes second reading

Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Patrick McLoughlin, introduced the second reading of the HGV Road User Levy Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday…

Driver CPC information is now in one place

DVSA  has now collected all the information regarding Driver CPC in one place on GOV.UK. No need to navigate through several different pages to find what you need. Simply go to…

Suspended prison sentences for breaching tachograph and drivers’ hours regulations

A coach driver admits falsifying tachograph records and was handed out a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £500 costs after…

Disqualified for five years for drivers’ hours offences

A South Wales operator was disqualified by Traffic Commissioner for Wales, Nick Jones, for five years after committing over 100 driver’ hours offences.  The owner operator…

Fines of up to £1,500 for historic commercial drivers’ hours offences

New rules mean the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will be able to issue on-the-spot fines for any drivers’ hours offences committed in the previous 28…

Ban on old tyres coming in the Autumn 2020

The Government have announced a ban on  old tyres being fitted to lorries, buses and coaches. The ban makes it illegal to fit tyres aged 10…

Lifetime ban for haulier after tampering with tachograph for a second time

Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken informed George Davidson that he would be disqualified from driving HGVs and could not re-apply for his professional licence until his 75th…

Fixed penalties increased from 16 August

Department for Transport announced that fixed penalty levels will increase from 16 August 2013. Graduated fixed penalties and financial deposits for vans, trucks and buses are…

Haulier suspended for drivers’ hours offences & false records

A Telford haulage operator has been suspended from running HGVs after Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones found that drivers had driven excessive hours, broken speed limits and…

Haulage firm shut down over drivers’ hours breach

Banned from running haulage firm after failing to give drivers rest breaks to comply with drivers’ hours requirements. Joan Aitken stripped the Operator Licence for Heavy…

91% of hauliers want online driver CPC data checking alongside driving licence checks

A survey of over 100 senior UK haulage fleet managers, conducted by the Association for Driving Licence Verification revealed that 91% of respondents want driver CPC…

21-year ban for HGV driver

A HGV driver has been disqualified from professional driving until June 2038 after his driver card was used by another employee to commit serious offences. The…

Temporary relaxation of EU drivers’ hours now ended

A temporary relaxation of the EU drivers’ hours rules for a 30-day period, for drivers was announced on 18 March 2020 to help with COVID-19. The…

£300,000 fine and £150,000 in costs for falsifying driver records

Former Director of Alba Transport of Halifax, Danny Steven Sawrij, was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £150,000 in costs for falsifying driver records at Kirklees…

Haulier fined after driver was found with an invalid driving licence

Haulage firm LMK International Transport was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs in Belfast Magistrates’ Court following the discovery that one of its HGVs was…

Transport Manager disqualified for 5 years

Stephen Drever-Marshall, the nominated Transport Manager on two licences – in the North of England was disqualified by North East Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney for five…

O-licence revoked for drivers’ hours offences

Numerous records and drivers’ hours offences led to a haulage firm based in Motherwell being stripped of its O-licence. The offences were unearthed by the DVSA…

Indefinite ban from running HGVs

An Enfield-based fruit and vegetable retailer was banned indefinitely from running heavy goods vehicles following a history of non-compliance. Evidence presented convinced to Nick Denton, Traffic…

Importing Tachograph Fraud

The BBC reported on an increase in tachograph tampering in the UK roads with over 440 HGVs crossing into the UK last year with manipulated tachographs.…

Tachographs & Telematics Report

The introduction of Smart Tachographs in June 2019 offer opportunities to make better operational use of tachograph and drivers’ hours data. The report conducted by Commercial…

U-turn on Driver CPC exemptions?

The Driving Standards Agency has announced that individuals such as mechanics, driving heavy vehicles for short distances for delivery or repair, will be made exempt from…

Waste disposal firm penalised for drivers’ hours offences

Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner, Joan Aitkin ruled on 3 October that Dow Waste Management will be prevented from expanding for 12 months. The company’s operations are to…

National speed limit for HGVs to be increased

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Claire Perry, announced yesterday that the government is proposing to increase the national speed limit for HGVs over…

ADLV Urges for regular licence checks to identify high risk drivers

The ADLV (Association for Driving Licence Verification) www.adlv.co.uk is calling for fleet managers to make more regular checks on driver licence entitlement. This includes quarterly checks…

Paying the ultimate price after encouraging drivers to work excessive hours

Paying the ultimate price after encouraging drivers to work excessive hours

Three-year ban for misleading DVSA & missing tachograph downloads

A haulage firm director admitted that he deceived Government inspectors over employment of a transport manager and was disqualified by the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner, Nick…

New and improved SmartCompliance User Interface makes managing your compliance easier

SmartCompliance will be updated to Release 20.4 on 5 May 2020. The new release will feature a new and improved SmartCompliance User Interface making it even…

Fined over £40,000 for drivers’ hours offences

Following a VOSA investigation, Ian John Trussler, a partner and transport manager; and Kenneth Trussler, a partner of Goldline Taxis and Coaches both received suspended prison…

Cash-in-transit Company fined £600 for tachograph offences

Following an investigation by DVA Enforcement Officers into the operation of 19 vehicles owned by Brinks Ireland Ltd, the company was fined £600 on 15 October…

Gist Expands Use of Cloud-Based Descartes Smartanalysis™ for European Road Transport Compliance

Descartes Systems Group today announced that Gist, a leading supply chain services provider, has expanded its use of Descartes Smartanalysis™, a tachograph analysis and compliance management solution,…

False tachograph records lead to busload of problems for coach firm

A coach operator, whose staff were prosecuted at Crown-Court over false tachograph records is now facing a two-day public inquiry in Leeds on December 1. The…

DVSA improves OCRS to focus on the least compliant operators

The DVSA use the Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) system to help decide which vehicles should be stopped for roadside checks. It gives a score for risk…

Prison for breaking drivers’ hours

A HGV driver was handed out a six-month prison sentence for failing to take rest breaks and drivers’ hours offences. The driver was stopped by DVSA…

No VU tachograph downloads in 505 days results in revoked licence

A Sittingbourne operator was called out as “an accident waiting to happen” and had their licence revoked by the South Eastern Traffic Commissioner, Sarah Bell. The…

Fees to be increased for graduated fixed penalties

The Department for Transport have announced that fixed penalty levels will increase from July 2013. The increases affects most motoring fixed penalties offences, graduated fixed penalties…

Driver CPC – New 13/11/13 exemption regulations clarified

New regulations that will come into force on 13 November 2013 concerning changes to Driver CPC exceptions were put before Parliament on 21 October 2013. These…

Dig deeper into unaccounted distance

Smartanalysis users can now dig deeper into unaccounted distance with a brand new Tachograph Analysis Report. In response to requests from customers the existing Descartes Smartanalysis…

Tachograph cheat is banned for three years

An Aberdeen-based owner-operator has had his O-licence revoked and been disqualified from driving HGVs for three years after using magnets to interrupt digital tachograph recordings. The…

Disqualified for encouraging drivers to commit drivers’ hours offences

The director of a haulage firm with operations in Shrewsbury and Coalville has been disqualified for two years after the Traffic Commissioner for the West Midlands,…

DVSA’s Earned Recognition Pilot starts with 30 organisations

take advantage of Earned Recognition with Smartanalysis.

New processes for hauliers travelling to Ireland

If you are travelling to Northern Ireland (NI) or the Republic of Ireland from any ports in Great Britain (GB), there are new processes that must…

Smart tachograph specification informally agreed

Improving road safety and ensuring fair competition in road transport in the EU. The Specification for a new generation of digital tachograph for trucks and buses…

Driver CPC exemptions take effect

Regulations which came into effect Wednesday 13 November clarify the Driver CPC exemptions. The new rules affect people who occasionally drive HGVs, buses or coaches as…

Haulage firm to pay almost £2,500 after admitting drivers’ hours offences

D Jenkins and Son and five of the company’s drivers appeared in court on charges of failing to take the regulatory required rest breaks following an…

False tachograph records shrinks the fleet for coach operator

A coach operator has had its fleet cut from 91 to just 35 vehicles following a Public Inquiry with the Traffic Commissioner for the North of…

Banned, licence revoked and fined for drivers’ hours and tachograph offences

A haulier and transport manager that demonstrated “poor in the extreme” knowledge of drivers’ hours and tachograph compliance will lose his operating licence from 3 February…

Devices for tampering with drivers’ hours found in HGVs

Police in Nottinghamshire have found 6 tachograph manipulation devices fitted in HGVs since January 2018. The devices are used to interfere with the recording of drivers’…

ECMT Deadline reminder for hauliers travelling to Europe

Hauliers planning to travel to the EU in from 1 January 2021 will need to apply for a ECMT permit. The application window will close on…

Optimised Route Planning, Mobile Tracking & Compliance Management – £1 per driver per day.

Route. Track. Comply. Descartes, world leaders in uniting the people and technology that move the world have launched On Demand Route Planning, Mobile Tracking and Compliance…

HGV driver fined £900 for drivers’ hours offences

A HGV driver was given on-the-spot fines totalling £900 after he tried to falsify his drivers’ hours record. The driver was stopped on 13 December during…

HGV Driver Fined £1000 for failing to take a break

A County Down Commercial Goods Vehicle Operator was fined a total of £1,000 at Omagh Magistrates’ Court for tachograph (drivers’ hours) offences. The charges came after…

HGV driver disqualified for poor records and ignoring breaks

A West Midlands HGV driver was been disqualified for over twelve months for failing to observe required breaks and keeping poor records.  The Traffic Commissioner for…

RoutingUK.descartes.com

Maximise efficiency and stay compliant. Descartes have launched a new web site to maximise the efficiency and profitability of road transport operations whilst safeguarding compliance.  The…

New rules on drivers’ working conditions are coming

Updated rules from the EU to fight illegal practices in road transport and to help improve drivers’ employment conditions were approved by the Transport Committee in…

New serious incident reporting system

The DVSA have launched a new serious incident reporting system for bus and coach operators. The new online form is available to use from 6 April.…

£1,500 fine for tachograph and drivers’ hours offences

A haulage company was fined a total of £1,500 and ordered to pay court courts at North Antrim  Magistrates’ Court on Fri 1st March. Patrick Bradley…

HGV Driver banned for false tachograph records and drivers’ hours infringements

The HGV driver was called to the Deputy Traffic Commissioner in Edinburgh in February after the authorities reported him for drivers’ hours infringements. He was originally…

School coach service suspended for drivers’ hours infringements

A Coach firm providing transport for school children was suspended for two weeks for ‘significant shortfalls’ in drivers’ hours records management. The coach operator was found…

HGV driver jailed for falsifying tachograph records

A HGV driver caused “danger to the public” by driving for about 500 hours more than he should have done.  The driver admitted ten offences of…

Smartanalysis reporting for Earned Recognition at Multimodal 2017

The extensive reporting capabilities of Smartanalysis will accommodate the requirements DVSA set for transport operators to achieve Earned Recognition. Visitors to Multimodal 2017, taking place at…

Coach firm loses licence for drivers’ hours abuses

A “dangerous” coach firm that operated school runs and carried professional sports teams in Hampshire has had its licence revoked by a traffic commissioner. The firm…

COVID-19 update: Changes to Driver CPC

Driver CPC periodic training changes announced. The Government has announced temporary changes to professional driver requirements as part of its response to the coronavirus outbreak.  Whilst…

The HGV Road User Levy Act becomes law

On 28 February 2013 the HGV Road User Levy Act became law. The Department for Transport says that this will pave the way for a fairer…

“Truckcam” results in 180 offences being reported in two weeks.

Merseyside Police target HGV drivers in covert operation. Merseyside Police issued 180 road traffic offence reports, 17-fixed penalty notices and seized four vehicles during operation ‘Truckcam’,…

Take immediate action to safeguard your compliance with SmartAlerts

Busy Transport Managers can now get automatic email alerts regarding their licensed drivers and their digital tachograph downloads using SmartAlerts from Descartes. This saves time and…

Banned for not resting

A HGV driver who broke drivers’ hours rules has been disqualified from professional driving for a year. The driver was found to have driven excessive hours…

Weekly Rest Period Clarification for HGV drivers’ hours

A statement by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has advised that a ‘normal’ 45-hour weekend break cannot count as ‘rest’ for tachograph…

Descartes launches mobile driver vehicle safety checks

From October 2018, Descartes mobile driver vehicle safety checks will be available as part of the SmartCompliance suite. Transport operators of all sizes will be able to…