Commercial Vehicle Operator Licensing

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A decision made on 4 December 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2017-0100
Decision Summary Title :	Commercial Vehicle Operator Licensing		Date of Decision Summary:	29 November 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Inspector of Motor Traffic		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Commercial Vehicle Operator Licensing		Date of Written Report:	29 November 2017
Written Report Author:	Inspector of Motor Traffic		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Drafting of legislation to give the Minister powers to issue a licence to operators of any class or classes of commercial vehicles and prescribe such conditions as may be specified in the licence and provided proof that conditions are not complied with, revoke or suspend said licence.
Decision(s): The Minister agreed that all Jersey registered commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes should be licenced to operate commercially on Island roads. From 2018 all said vehicles shall be annually inspected and certified to ensure they are safe to operate on Island roads.
Reason(s) for Decision: 1) To establish a transitional arrangement for annual testing of commercial vehicles registered in Jersey. 2) To prescribe the minimum testing standard for operating a commercial vehicle on Jersey roads. 3) To introduce a Commercial Vehicle Licensing scheme for all vehicles over 3.5 tonne.
Resource Implications: The first phase of annual vehicle testing can be undertaken from existing Driver and Vehicle Standards Department resources and facilities. The second phase and Operator audits will require additional resource which has been budgeted for in the DVS 2019 budget and covered by the anticipated Certificate of Compliance (CoC) testing fees. DVS facilities are able to accommodate the testing of all commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.
Action required: Head of DVS to ; 1) Instruct the Law Draftsman to prepare amendments to the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Jersey) Order 1998, pursuant to the Minister’s powers to make Orders under Article 77 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956. The policy purpose of these amendments is to enable the Minister to require certain large commercially operated vehicles (over 7.5 tonnes commencing 01.01.18, and over 3.5 tonnes commencing 01.01.19) to undergo what will in effect be an annual roadworthiness inspection, with the aim of ensuring that such vehicles are in a safe condition for use on the roads. A vehicle passing such an inspection will be issued with a CoC under the Order. 2) Instruct the Law Draftsman to change Article 120 (1) of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Jersey) Order 1998 so as to increase the vehicle examination fee from £25 to £175. 3) To instruct the law draftsman to draft legislation giving the Minister for Infrastructure the powers to issue a licence to Operators of any class or classes of vehicle and prescribe such restrictions and conditions as may be specified in the licence. If such conditions and restrictions are not complied with, revoke or suspend said licence and include the requirements, as set out in items 1 to 5 of this report. 4) Advise the Industry of the decision and prepare the schedule for the inspection of commercial vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from January 2018.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Infrastructure
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Commercial Vehicle Operator Licensing

DEPARTMENT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OPERATOR LICENSING

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

To seek the Minister for Infrastructure’s agreement to instruct the Law Draftsman to draft legislation giving the Minister the powers to issue a licence to Operators of any class or classes of commercial vehicles and prescribe such conditions as may be specified in the licence, and be able to revoke or suspend the said licence if not complied with.

BACKGROUND

The road haulage industry in Jersey has been aware of proposals for a Vehicle Operator Licensing Scheme for a number of years, since the States approved the Sustainable Transport Policy (STP) in 2010 (see section 7.7). Despite the STP recognising the benefits of a licensing scheme for commercial vehicles, the current legislation does not provide the Minister with power to issue such a licence and more importantly to have the power to remove it if the conditions set are not complied with. As the industry has been engaged in formulating the scheme, it is anticipated that they should be prepared for the scheme’s implementation or any temporary arrangement in advance of the introduction of the full Operator’s Licence Scheme.

As new primary legislation will take some time to complete, it is proposed that initially, instructions are issued to the Law Draftsman to prepare amendments to the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Jersey) Order 1998, pursuant to the Minister’s powers to make Orders under Article 77 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956. The purpose of these amendments are to enable the Minister to require certain large goods vehicles (over 3.5 tonnes) to undergo what will in effect be an annual safety inspection, to demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the 1998 Order, thereby establishing that such vehicles are in a safe condition for use on the roads. A vehicle passing such an inspection will be issued with a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) under the Order, which will be valid for twelve months. This will establish a set standard for all commercial vehicles operating on Jersey roads. Initially, the proposal to annually inspect vehicles will relate only to commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

The implementation of the annual inspections will be undertaken in two phases commencing in 2018. The first phase being vehicles over 7.5 tonnes with the second phase being those over 3.5 tonnes up to 7.5 tonnes. The initial phase will capture approximately 300 vehicles in addition to those that are currently inspected for P30 Exemption Permits with a further 550 forecast for the second phase commencing in 2019. Driver and Vehicle Standards Department will have the necessary manpower, resources and facilities to carry out the proposed annual inspections.

The 1998 Order currently specifies a fee for the inspection of a vehicle for the issue of a CoC of £25, which has remained unaltered since the Order was enacted. Therefore, the intention is to increase this amount to align itself with the current P30 exemption inspection fee. The fee prescribed for replacement of a lost CoC will remain.

Below are the principles of the areas covered by the proposed Operator’s Licence Scheme:

1.0 Annual Road Worthiness Inspections (ARI)

The vehicle inspection scheme is to ensure that all vehicles and trailers which come under the operator’s licence can demonstrate that they are kept safe to operate in regard to their condition and roadworthiness. Initially, all vehicles will be inspected at DVS to the standards laid out in the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Manual. Providing the vehicle has met the required standard, a certificate will be issued

2.0 Transport Managers

Every Goods Vehicle Operator must designate a Transport Manager to be solely responsible for the effective and continuous management of the transport operation. The Transport Manager may be internally or externally appointed.

3.0 Vehicle Checks and Maintenance

A maintenance system is the entire process of looking after a vehicle. Appropriate maintenance aims to prevent the development of serious defects on vehicles and ensures that vehicles are always in a safe and reliable condition.

There are two parts to an effective maintenance system on vehicles:

Drivers daily walk around checks
Regular safety inspections

Both of the above are essential to ensure vehicles being operated are safe, legal and reliable when in use on the road.

The driver’s daily check must be undertaken by the driver prior to taking a vehicle out on the road. The driver must be suitably trained to enable them to carry out this task.

The regular safety inspections should be carried out by a suitably trained vehicle engineer, in a suitable facility at set intervals.

4.0 Record Keeping

Operators will be required to hold individual history files for all vehicles. The history files will have all inspection reports, the ARI certificate and any other relevant details relating to the maintenance history of the vehicle, including driver defect reports.

The Operators will also be required to hold and maintain records of driver licences and training.

5.0 Compliance

To check compliance, Operators will be audited on a regular basis to ensure they are operating within the framework and abiding by the conditions laid out in their licence. If after audit, the Operator is deemed not to comply with any of the requirements or it has come to the attention of the department due to Road Traffic infractions, the Inspector of Motor Traffic (IOMT) shall be entitled to apply sanctions on the licence.

The IOMT shall agree to improvements required by the Operator and prescribe a timescale for those improvements. Where no improvement is made, the IOMT on behalf of the Minister may suspend or recommend to the Minister that he revokes the licence to operate.

RESOURCES

The first phase of annual vehicle testing can be undertaken from existing Driver and Vehicle Standards Department resources and facilities. The second phase and Operator audits will require additional resource which has been budgeted for in the DVS 2019 budget and covered by the anticipated CoC testing fees. DVS facilities are able to accommodate the testing of all commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

RECOMMENDATION

The Minister is recommended to approve that instructions are submitted to the Law Draftsman to prepare the necessary amendments.

REASON(S) FOR DECISION

1) To establish a transitional arrangement for annual testing of Commercial Vehicles registered in Jersey.

2) To prescribe the minimum testing standard for operating Commercial Vehicles on Jersey roads.

3) To introduce a Commercial Vehicle Licensing scheme for all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

ACTION REQUIRED

1) Instruct the Law Draftsman to prepare amendments to the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Jersey) Order 1998, pursuant to the Minister’s powers to make Orders under Article 77 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956. The policy purpose of these amendments is to enable the Minister to require certain large commercially operated vehicles (over 7.5 tonnes commencing 01 January 2018, and over 3.5 tonnes commencing 01 January 2019) to undergo what will in effect be an annual roadworthiness inspection, with the aim of ensuring that such vehicles are in a safe condition for use on the roads. A vehicle passing such an inspection will be issued with a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) under the Order.

2) To instruct the Law Draftsman to draft legislation giving the Minister for Infrastructure the powers to issue a licence to Operators of any class or classes of vehicle and prescribe such restrictions and conditions as may be specified in the licence. If such conditions and restrictions are not complied with, suspend or revoke said licence and include the requirements as set out in items 1 to 5 of this report.

3) Advise the Industry of the decision and prepare the schedule for the inspection of Commercial Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from January 2018 and over 3.5 tonnes from January 2019.

Written by:	Inspector of Motor Traffic

Approved by:	Director of Transport