Feature Articles

On 24 July 2019, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) issued a necessary rebuttal to inaccurate media reports that the decade-low (45.8%) initial driving test pass rate is due to the newly-introduced and “dangerous” pull up on the right manoeuvre. In doing so DVSA highlighted the very strong correlation between driving test faults and the factors that cause accidents, as cited for every type of vehicle in the official Road Accident and Safety Statistics (RAS).

For goods and public service vehicle drivers, there can surely be no more valuable qualification than the vocational driving entitlements which enable them to drive the classes of vehicle for which they are employed. It is obvious why a lorry driver — who does not hold a licence to drive a lorry — is not an awful lot of use to an employer. The protection of that entitlement is vital to any driver — it is no exaggeration to say that their livelihood depends on it.

Richard J Smith, transport consultant, takes a look at the three areas in the freight transport industry where acquired rights (previously known as grandfather rights) currently apply.

In this article, Andrew Shylan of AJS HAZ Training explores the carriage of dangerous goods using the excepted quantity (EQ) exemptions, concentrating on the surface movement of EQs and the subtle differences between road/rail and sea transport.

Caroline Raine discusses the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (CDG) prohibition notices issued in 2018 and highlights common mistakes that are made by those transporting dangerous goods.

In their latest version of their statutory guidance, the Traffic Commissioners added a new section on driver employment status (document 5 — Legal entities) which highlights their concern over the issue of employment and self-employment in the transport industry. This article by tax expert Mark Cawthron provides an update ahead of the introduction of the new off-payroll rules for workers in the private sector with effect from 6 April 2020. In doing so, he looks at the related question of employment status, where legislative change is also anticipated. This will be of interest to PSV operators who regularly use the services of such individuals in the course of their business, such as those employed by personal service companies, and any HGV operators who have to deal with the issue of employment status in their business. At the foot of this article is a summary of a case where the Tribunal considered a pool of drivers to be engaged to work essentially as “day labourers”.

It is well established that road transport operators have a crucial part to play in minimising the harmful emissions outputs produced by road vehicles. Congestion charging and the newly-introduced ULEZ, strict engine manufacturing standards and the use of AdBlue to fuel selective catalytic reductions systems are all means by which emissions outputs can be reduced.

James Backhouse and Andrew Woolfall from Backhouse Jones Solicitors summarise the changes to tachograph technology.

In recent years the enforcement landscape — whether we are talking in terms of prosecutions through the criminal court system or regulatory action by the Traffic Commissioners — has seen regular change and it now appears set for further revision as digitisation and new technologies take hold. Andrew Woolfall of Backhouse Jones solicitors looks proposed changes to the enforcement strategy across the commercial transport industry.

In this feature article, Consultant Editor, Caroline Raine discusses the impact on the transport of dangerous goods in the wake of the expected UK departure from membership of the EU.