If you use an external Transport Manager, the contract between you is one of the documents a Traffic Commissioner is most likely to look at. It shows whether the arrangement is genuine, or whether a qualified person’s name has simply been added to your Operator Licence. This guide explains what the Traffic Commissioners’ statutory guidance says about the contract, what it should cover and what to avoid.
If you are still deciding whether to use an external manager, start with our guide to external Transport Managers, then come back here to check the paperwork.
How HGV Consult works: we introduce operators to CPC holders. We do not employ or supply Transport Managers, and we are not a party to your contract. The contract is between your business and the Transport Manager.
Why the contract matters
The Traffic Commissioners’ Statutory Document 3 says an external Transport Manager may be hired in “under a contract which specifies the tasks he or she will perform as the transport manager”. For an external manager it describes the contract for the supply of services as the key document in showing the genuine link with the business.
A Traffic Commissioner can look at the terms of the arrangement when deciding whether the Transport Manager really has continuous and effective management of your transport activities. A vague or one-sided contract makes that harder to show, and it can leave both you and the Transport Manager exposed if there is a public inquiry.
Who the contract should be with
The contract should be directly between your business, as the operator, and the Transport Manager. Statutory Document 3 says a Transport Manager “cannot however be employed through or part of a package supplied by a transport consultancy”, and that any attempt to do so must be referred to the Traffic Commissioner.
For that reason, HGV Consult does not provide Transport Managers under a contract of its own. We introduce operators to suitable CPC holders. From there, you and the Transport Manager agree the tasks, hours and fee between yourselves, and the contract is between the two of you.
Whoever you choose to work with, check that the contract names your business and the Transport Manager as the parties, and that nobody else is supplying the service or directing the Transport Manager’s work.
What the contract should cover
There is no mandatory format, but the guidance and the tasks it refers to point to a number of things a sound contract should deal with:
- The tasks. What the Transport Manager will actually do. The guidance refers to tasks such as managing vehicle maintenance, checking transport contracts and documents, basic accounting, assigning loads and vehicles, and checking safety procedures.
- The hours. The time they will commit each week or month, and how it will be spread across site visits, remote work and reviewing records. See our guide to External Transport Manager time commitments.
- Authority. What they can decide and require, such as arranging maintenance or repairs and requiring corrective action. The guidance treats real authority as part of genuine management.
- Access to records. Ready access to your maintenance, tachograph, driver and compliance records, and to the online Operator Licence records, as, when and where needed.
- Reporting and communication. How often they report to you, how they raise problems and who they speak to on site.
- Your responsibilities. What you must provide: records, access, information and support. Responsibility for operating compliantly stays with you as well as with the Transport Manager.
- Changes and disagreements. What happens if hours need to increase, if the fleet or sites change, or if you and the Transport Manager disagree.
- Fees, term and notice. What you pay the Transport Manager and when, how long the agreement runs, how it is reviewed and how either side can end it.
Do not promise hours that will not be kept
The guidance is blunt about hours. It calls it “wholly unacceptable” to make a commitment to minimum contractual hours that one or both parties then depart from. If a Transport Manager cannot do the job in the hours declared, they should consider increasing their input or resigning, and a reduction in declared hours has to be notified to the Traffic Commissioner.
So write down the hours that will really be worked, review them when your operation changes, and keep records that show they are being kept.
Limits to remember
An external Transport Manager can work for a maximum of four operators (not licences), with sole responsibility for a combined total of 50 authorised vehicles, or fewer if the Traffic Commissioner decides that is more appropriate. Ask any candidate about their existing commitments before you agree terms. Our article on whether one Transport Manager can look after more than one operator explains how this works.
Warning signs in a contract
- No list of tasks, or tasks so general that they mean nothing.
- Hours that are very low, or that the Transport Manager cannot actually deliver.
- No right of access to your records or your systems.
- No authority to require corrective action.
- A form or contract signed with details to be filled in later. The guidance calls this wholly unacceptable.
- An arrangement that looks like a name on the licence with no real involvement. The guidance says a Transport Manager must always be more than a Transport Manager in name.
The same advice applies to the person you appoint. Our guide to what an external Transport Manager does sets out what genuine involvement looks like.
Keep the contract alive
A contract that sits in a drawer helps nobody. Review it at least once a year and whenever your fleet, operating centres or type of work changes, and keep evidence that it is being followed: dated visit notes, reports, records of the actions taken and any changes to the agreed hours. If your Transport Manager leaves, read our guide to what to do when your Transport Manager leaves.
Where to start
If you need an external Transport Manager, tell us about your operation and request a call back. We will introduce you to a suitable CPC holder, and you and the Transport Manager then agree the contract and fee directly.
Important to remember
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. The contract you need depends on your own circumstances, so have it reviewed by a solicitor before you sign. The Traffic Commissioners decide whether a Transport Manager nomination is accepted, and no contract can guarantee that decision. Guidance changes, so check the current version before you rely on it.
Source: Traffic Commissioners, Statutory Document 3: Transport Managers (gov.uk).