Hosted by Phil Lloyd, head of engineering at Logistics UK, it was an opportunity for new Senior Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney, only in his second day in the job, to speak about the most pressing priorities in his in-tray.
“What is on my agenda for the future is trying to clear up all things that have been on the agenda for the last 10-12 years, things like reforming us into a separate tribunal,” he said.
Rooney explained that high up on his list of priorities, was speaking to service users to garner what he and his team can do to help and, to understand what the priorities are for the likes of Logistics UK, the RHA, and operators.
Technology, he said can also play a more prominent role to help to improve operations and he said that he was keen to utilise the benefits that artificial intelligence (AI) can bring to the table.
“There is a lot more that we can do using technology and online. We are looking at some trials of how we might use AI in the application process,” he says.
“We are also looking at how we can mandate the use of the Government One Login, so we actually, know who we are dealing with. We have a lot of applications that still rely on a web signature, and we have no idea about the individuals regarding the license.”
Rooney also explained that the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain brings in around £12m but around £20m is spent, which is "not a viable business model". He added: “We need to work out what we spend £20m on, demonstrate that to you so you know what it is going on."
Vehicle operator licence fees also look set to rise, Rooney said, and it is conducting a piece of work on prices as they have not been increased since 2009 and they need to be fairer.
“We are looking at the fees and it will mean they go up,” he said. “What we are looking at is ways that we can do it bit more fairly than we do at the moment.”
He added: “The one-vehicle scaffolder pays exactly, the same £80 a year for his licence, whereas a third-party logistics operator with 1000 vehicles on the licence does not pay much more.”
Rooney said that one big operator can take up to 20% of case workers’ time a year and the cost of the licence must be reflected in what the licence holder pays.
Speaking earlier in his session, Rooney also praised the new five-tier Maintenance Provision Rating Scheme (MPRS) that was launched at the CV Show, a scheme for workshops and maintenance facilities aimed at raising standards in facilities and skills across the commercial vehicle industry.
“We have devised a scheme that is not perfect yet, as we would like to gain some KPIs and things from the platform in future, but we have got something that helps you as an operator to find out whether or not your maintenance provider is qualified,” he says.
Steered and managed by IRTE, the professional sector of the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE), the industry-led scheme is the result of collaboration across the commercial vehicle sector and government, jointly developed by IRTE, Logistics UK, RHA, CPT, SMMT, BVRLA, and NFDA, and is backed by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, DVSA and DfT.
MPRS rates workshops on their staff skills, processes and the quality of their facilities and they can apply for a rating (Qualified, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) that matches their operations.
Visit https://mprs.org.uk/ for more information.
