Compliance hub · free guides

Fleet compliance,
made plain

Four free comprehensive guides. Plus the kind of intel most software companies don't bother getting.

UK fleet compliance is a regulatory regime, not a checklist. Whether you're a TM defending an O-licence, a driver protecting your DQC, or an ADR operator carrying dangerous goods — these guides give you the rules, the numbers, and the why. Free PDF downloads, no fluff.

Live from the roadside

What DVSA actually catches
most often

Most fleet software companies write about compliance from a desk. We talk to the people doing the enforcing. Here's what a serving DVSA agent told us at one of the busiest stop sites in the country.

Trowell Services · M1 NB

Tyres, brakes, load distribution, securing.
In that order.

In a recent informal conversation with a DVSA agent on duty at Trowell Services — one of the most active enforcement sites on the UK strategic road network — we asked the simple question every TM should be asking: what gets caught most often at the roadside?

The answer was direct. Four findings, in order of frequency. Every one of them should be caught by a competent walkaround check before the vehicle leaves the yard. They aren't.

Primary research, May 2026 · single-source intel from a DVSA agent on duty. Not a published DVSA position.

In order of frequency

Faulty tyres

Below 1mm tread, sidewall damage, mismatched axles, age cracking.

Faulty brakes

Imbalance >25%, leaks, worn pads, ignored warning lights.

Uneven load distribution

Off-centre loading, axle weights out of spec, third-party loaders.

Incorrect load securing

Insufficient lashings, no edge protection, straps where chains belong.

Counter-narrative · same conversation

"Foreign trucks have been more compliant than ours."

Foreign-plated vehicles have been notably more compliant than UK-plated vehicles in recent encounters.

The same agent, in passing. An observation that inverts a long-standing assumption in UK road haulage — that foreign operators bring the higher defect risk to UK roads. If the on-the-ground reality has shifted, even at one site, that's a meaningful signal about where compliance pressure points sit in 2026.

Plausible drivers: post-Brexit operating discipline, AETR maturity, harsher deposit-on-spot enforcement creating different commercial calculus, sustained UK margin pressure leading to deferred PMIs and stretched walkarounds, newer continental kit. None of these are confirmed — but each is observable in the wider industry.

The harder question this raises for the UK industry: are we still running the operations we used to be proud of?

Single observation, single site. Not a national pattern. Worth validating at other stops over the months ahead.

What the regulators say

It's not advice. It's the law.

DVSA, the Traffic Commissioners, and the Senior Traffic Commissioner's Statutory Documents speak with one voice on this. We've pulled three of the more direct things they've said:

There is an inaccurate belief in some parts of the industry that the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness is 'mere' guidance and can be dispensed with if the Operator chooses any different approach. The GTMR contains a mixture of legislative requirements and best practice (alongside setting out what is the 'bare minimum').

Sarah Bell, Traffic Commissioner for the London & South East of England Traffic Area
Public Inquiry decisions, June 2025 · Dancon Haulage Limited (OK2018188)

Operators should be aware that 'fit and serviceable' may at times go beyond the basic MOT annual test standard. Operators must ensure each safety inspection includes either a laden roller brake test, a satisfactory EBPMS evaluation, or other approved method.

DVSA · Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, April 2025 update
Available on gov.uk

85%

of roadside defects DVSA found could be avoided by a careful walkaround check, per industry figures

15 months

minimum retention for walkaround records, defect reports, PMIs and repair records

13 wk

practical maximum PMI interval. Going past it without documented justification is rarely defensible at PI

4 / yr

minimum laden brake tests required from April 2025 — including the annual MOT

The guides

Eight free comprehensive guides

Each guide is sourced from primary documents — gov.uk, DVSA Moving On, HSE Manual, UNECE ADR 2025, Senior Traffic Commissioner Statutory Documents. Updated for the December 2024 DVSA load-securing rules. Free, no email gate. Read online or print for the cab.

General haulage

For TM & FM · comprehensive

UK fleet compliance — TM/FM edition

The spine document for general haulage. Operator licence undertakings, the Transport Manager's role, walkaround standards, PMIs, drivers' hours, OCRS, load security and steel work, building a system that survives audit.

16 sections ~9,000 words Verified May 2026

Read guide For drivers · comprehensive

UK fleet compliance — driver edition

What you need to know to drive compliant. Walkaround, hours, tachograph, load security, what happens when DVSA stop you, what's at stake at a Driver Conduct Hearing. Plus the welfare side most guides skip.

13 sections ~7,500 words Verified May 2026

Read guide For TM & FM · simplified

UK fleet compliance — short version (TM & FM)

The same ground in 1/4 the words. Boring bits skipped, important bits flagged. For TMs new to the operator side, or for refresher reading without setting aside an afternoon.

12 sections ~2,500 words Verified May 2026

Read guide For drivers · simplified

UK fleet compliance — short version (drivers)

For reading in the cab over a brew. Walkaround, hours, tacho, load security, what to do at a DVSA stop. Important stuff only.

10 sections ~2,000 words Verified May 2026

Read guide

ADR (dangerous goods)

For TM & FM · comprehensive

ADR compliance — TM/FM edition

Carriage of dangerous goods done properly. DGSAs, all 11 hazard classes equally covered, vehicle approvals (VTG15), the four-page IIW, tunnel codes, equipment, the 2025 changes. Penalties under CDG are criminal, not civil.

17 sections ~10,500 words ADR 2025 verified

Read guide For drivers · comprehensive

ADR compliance — driver edition

Your card, the in-cab paperwork, the equipment, the placards, the tunnel codes, what happens at the roadside — and the day something goes wrong. Written by drivers who hold all 11 ADR classes plus tank.

14 sections ~8,500 words ADR 2025 verified

Read guide For TM & FM · simplified

ADR compliance — short version (TM & FM)

The cut-down ADR comprehensive. Same scope, less detail. For TMs new to ADR or for refresher reading without setting aside an afternoon.

13 sections ~3,000 words ADR 2025 verified

Read guide For drivers · simplified

ADR compliance — short version (drivers)

For reading in the cab over a brew. ADR essentials only — what's different, what to carry, what to do when DVSA stop you with an ADR load.

11 sections ~2,500 words ADR 2025 verified