New Applications & Variations
What's the benefits of independent auditing ?
Independent audits are something that are favoured by the Traffic commissioners and are a very useful tool for operators to assess their current compliance and rectify it to regain compliance. After all if you are unintentionally non compliant and are unfortunate enough to have a DVSA visit out of the blue or a major incident occurs you may well have left your self wide open to having your operators licence put at risk.
There's also the chance that you may well be fully compliant but changes that have taken place to guides and legislation means that you are no longer compliant.
Our audits are intended to be a tool to "support & Guide" your operation into being its best and not to incriminate you.
Getting an audit done has the following benefits :
- Highlights areas for improvement or rectification
- Shows you are compliant
- Highlights non compliance
- Shows how compliant you may be
- Shows proactivity
- Ensures policies and processes are up to date with current legislation
- Avoids non compliance being found by the DVSA allowing you time to rectify
- Assesses the competency of your transport manager and operational staff
Auditing should not be ignored until it's too late ......
What are the possible implications of being non compliant ?
There can be many severe implications to non compliance but we find its mostly not all bad as things can always be put right and the traffic commissioners will always take this into account if you show you've been proactive. We aren't perfect and mistakes and oversights can happen but it's how we react that matters.
If non compliance is detected by the DVSA or by means of competing a Desk based assessment questionnaire ( DBAQ ) then there's a few things that can happen ,
- Enforcement action - Enforcement action can be taken and can lead to heavy fines and other implications such as public inquiries etc
- Public inquiries - The traffic Commissioner may call you to a public inquiry. Public inquiries can be scary experiences but they are not all bad and are there to give you an opportunity to explain what's gone wrong and what can now be done or has already been done in the run up to it to regain compliance.
What action can be taken at a public inquiry ?
- Formal warning - A formal warning maybe issued to the operator and or the transport manager depending on the nature of the non compliance.
- Suspension - Although not very common a suspension maybe given which would prevent you from operating your vehicles until a certain date.
- Curtailment - Curtailments aren't nice at all as they ultimately reduce your authorisation capacity temporarily for a fixed period which can result in finances being stretched to their maximum.
- Revocation - Revocation is becoming more and more common these days and does what it says on the tin.... It revokes your operators license which means you can not continue to operate your company.
Will an audit avoid regulatory action ?
In a word no .... But "Yes" at the same times it will be less severe. If non compliance is detected voluntarily early enough then this means you've got time to address it and put things right before its detected by official means. It never goes away historically as it's there in black and white but what steps you've taken to put it right carries immense weight at a public inquiry and shows proactivity. Allowances will always be made for the self detection and rectification of historical non compliance.
What does an audit cover ?
Our audits are carried out to DBAQ standards and are formatted in a colour coded grading that can be easily understood. Audit sections are graded "Satisfactory", "Unsatisfactory" or "Work required" together with a green, Amber and Red colour coding.
The audit its self covers all applicable areas to include :
- Maintenance
- Drivers hours
- Driver training compliance
- Record keeping
- Tachograph compliance
- Vehicle file / document assessment
- Day to day compliance
- Policies and procedures
All audits include a full write up together with detailed recommendations where applicable.
Our audits can also be used if it's been requested by the traffic commissioners.
How much does an audit cost ?
This depends on the nature of the audit and areas to be covered but fleet size and the number of drivers are also a factor to consider.
Most basic compliance reviews and audits are completed for £560.00 + Travel expenses where applicable but can also range from £250 to £1,990 depending on the type of licence and authorisation capacity and how in depth you'd like the audit to be.
Click here to book a free no obligation 15 minute telephone call or zoom meeting or here to book an audit online.