HGV driver who had no licence was three times over drink-drive limit. This is a sad and unusual case of a HGV driver caught driving when he was three times over the drink driving limit and he didn’t even know his licence had been taken from him. The driver concerned committed a speeding offence whilst driving a heavy goods vehicle. He already had four points on his licence and pleaded guilty by post.  He was told he would receive a letter about his driving licence but claimed it never came.  The driver found out his licence had actually been taken from him when he was arrested for the drink-driving offence. Hopefully this is a rare occurrence but the implications for any transport operator in this situation are extremely serious. So how can transport operators mitigate the risk and safeguard themselves against this kind of situation? Operators should have a formal process and system in place for verifying their drivers’ licences at regular intervals. Things can change very quickly and ignorance is no defence. Solutions such as Descartes SmartLicence enable transport operators to verify licence details with DVLA at a frequency determined by the risk profile of the driver. Plus it has the added benefit of SmartAlerts – automatic email alerts to any changes on a licence following a licence verification with DVLA.