What Does a Transport Manager Need to Do Every Month?

alan65932

Sep 21

8 min read

What does a Transport Manager need to do every month?

Being a Transport Manager isn't simply about being named on an Operator Licence.

A Transport Manager is responsible for the continuous and effective management of an operator's transport activities. That means actively monitoring the operation, identifying problems, dealing with them and making sure the systems in place are actually working.

But what does that actually look like in practice?

There isn't a single statutory checklist that says a Transport Manager must complete exactly the same tasks on the first Monday of every month.

The workload will depend on the size and nature of the operation.

However, a properly managed transport operation should have a regular cycle of checks and reviews.

Here's what a Transport Manager should typically be looking at each month.

1. Review drivers' hours and tachograph compliance

Drivers' hours should be one of the regular areas of review.

A Transport Manager should be checking tachograph analysis and infringement reports to identify problems such as:

Excessive driving time
Insufficient daily or weekly rest
Break infringements
Incorrect manual entries
Missing or incomplete records
Driving without a driver card
Repeated infringements by particular drivers

The important point is that producing an infringement report isn't the end of the process.

Where infringements are identified, they need to be investigated and appropriate action taken.

If the same driver repeatedly makes the same mistake, for example, the Transport Manager should be asking why.

Is the driver properly trained?

Are they being given unrealistic schedules?

Are planners putting pressure on drivers?

Is there a wider management problem?

The Transport Manager's role is not simply to collect reports. It is to manage the compliance system.

You can read more about the wider [duties and responsibilities of a Transport Manager] in our guide.

2. Check vehicle maintenance

Vehicle maintenance should also form part of the regular monthly review.

The Transport Manager should be checking that planned safety inspections are being completed at the correct intervals and that defects are being dealt with appropriately.

That can include reviewing:

Planned safety inspections
MOT and annual test dates
Brake testing
Defect reports
Repairs
Vehicles taken off the road
Missed or late inspections
PMI records
Maintenance planner
External maintenance providers

The Traffic Commissioners' guidance expects Transport Managers to ensure that vehicles are properly maintained and fit and serviceable at all times.

Maintenance records also need to be retained for at least 15 months.

A monthly review is therefore an opportunity to identify trends before they become a much bigger problem.

A vehicle repeatedly being presented with defects isn't just a maintenance issue. It may indicate a weakness in the operator's wider compliance system.

For a deeper look at the subject, see our article [Operator Compliance Audit: What Should You Check?].

3. Review driver licence checks and qualifications

Driver administration shouldn't be left until somebody discovers that a driver's entitlement has expired.

Regular licence checks should be carried out, with the current guidance indicating that these are usually undertaken every three months.

The Transport Manager should also ensure that drivers have the appropriate qualifications, including a valid Driver CPC qualification where applicable.

A monthly review might therefore include checking:

Upcoming licence check dates
Driver CPC/DQC status
New drivers
Drivers who have changed vehicle categories
Training requirements
Medical declarations where relevant
Any restrictions or issues identified during licence checks

Our [Driver Licence Checks] service can help operators make sure this part of their compliance system is properly managed.

4. Check the Operator Licence itself

The Operator Licence should not be treated as something that sits in a folder and is only looked at when the business needs another vehicle.

The Transport Manager should regularly consider whether the operation is still being run in accordance with the licence.

For example:

Are all vehicles correctly specified?
Is there enough vehicle authority available?
Are vehicles being operated from the correct operating centre?
Have any vehicles been added, removed or replaced?
Has the business changed in a way that requires a licence variation?
Are the licence conditions and undertakings still being complied with?

Vehicle details need to be kept up to date on the Vehicle Operator Licensing system, and failures to make relevant changes promptly can have consequences for a Transport Manager's repute.

If your operation has changed, our guide [When Does an Operator Need to Vary Its Licence?] explains some of the situations where a variation may be required.

5. Review defects, prohibitions and test failures

If a vehicle receives a prohibition or fails an annual test, it shouldn't simply become another piece of paperwork in the compliance file.

The Transport Manager should establish:

What happened?

Why did it happen?

What was done about it?

How will we prevent it happening again?

Traffic Commissioner guidance specifically identifies reviewing shortcomings such as prohibitions and annual test failures as part of the Transport Manager's responsibilities.

This is where looking for patterns becomes particularly important.

One isolated issue may have a straightforward explanation.

Repeated issues can suggest that something within the maintenance or management system isn't working.

Road Haulage Compliance - Keeping you compliant

6. Check that compliance actions are actually being completed

One of the easiest traps for a Transport Manager is creating a list of problems without making sure somebody actually fixes them.

For example:

Problem: Driver has repeated hours infringements.

Action: Driver to receive additional training.

Question: Was the training actually completed?

Or:

Problem: Vehicle defects identified during inspection.

Action: Vehicle booked into workshop.

Question: Were the defects repaired and was the vehicle returned to service appropriately?

A good Transport Manager needs to follow the process through to completion.

The Senior Traffic Commissioner's guidance describes the role as including managing, auditing and reviewing compliance systems to ensure they are effective.

7. Speak to drivers and transport staff

Compliance doesn't happen entirely inside spreadsheets and software.

A monthly conversation with drivers and transport staff can reveal problems that wouldn't necessarily appear in a report.

For example:

Drivers being pressured to meet unrealistic schedules
Problems with vehicles
Recurring defects
Issues with loading
Problems accessing maintenance
Confusion over procedures
Training requirements
Changes in the work being undertaken

A Transport Manager needs sufficient involvement in the operation to understand what is actually happening.

This is particularly important for an [External Transport Manager], where the TM needs to have enough time, access and authority to exercise continuous and effective management.

8. Review the maintenance planner and upcoming deadlines

A good Transport Manager shouldn't only look backwards.

They should also look ahead.

The maintenance planner should provide a clear picture of upcoming:

Safety inspections
MOTs
Brake tests
Tachograph calibrations
Servicing
Driver licence checks
Training requirements

The guidance expects operators to maintain a preventative maintenance system and plan safety inspections and testing appropriately.

The monthly review is therefore a good opportunity to look at the next few weeks and make sure nothing is about to fall through the cracks.

9. Check tachograph downloads and record keeping

A Transport Manager should also make sure that the operator's record-keeping systems are functioning properly.

For digital tachographs, the current guidance requires vehicle unit data to be downloaded at least every 90 days and driver card data at least every 28 days, where applicable. Drivers' hours records must be retained for at least 12 months, while working time records must be retained for at least 24 months.

This means the monthly review should include checking that downloads are taking place and that records are accessible.

A system that normally works but has quietly stopped downloading data is exactly the sort of problem a regular management review should identify.

10. Look for changes in the business

Finally, the Transport Manager should ask a simple question:

Has anything changed?

Businesses don't always remember to tell the Transport Manager when something changes.

Perhaps:

Another vehicle has been hired.
A vehicle has been sold.
The operating centre has changed.
A new type of work has been taken on.
The company has started international work.
New drivers have joined.
A maintenance provider has changed.
The fleet has grown.
The business has started carrying different types of goods.

Some changes may require action on the Operator Licence or within the operator's compliance systems.

The Transport Manager needs to know about them.

If you're unsure whether a change to your operation requires action, our guide [When to vary an Operator Licence] is a useful starting point.

A Transport Manager's monthly compliance routine

There is no magic monthly checklist that guarantees compliance.

A Transport Manager's responsibilities are continuous, and different operators will need different levels of monitoring depending on their size, fleet, drivers and type of work.

But a sensible monthly routine might look something like this:

Drivers

Review tachograph analysis
Review infringements
Check actions have been completed
Monitor licence and qualification requirements

Vehicles

Review safety inspections
Review defects and repairs
Check upcoming MOTs and testing
Review prohibitions and test failures

Operator Licence

Check vehicles and operating arrangements
Review any changes to the business
Check licence authority and conditions

Management

Speak to drivers and staff
Review outstanding actions
Identify recurring problems
Check that compliance systems are actually working

Forward planning

Review the next month's maintenance and testing
Identify training requirements
Deal with upcoming deadlines

The exact frequency of individual checks will vary. Some matters need to be monitored much more frequently than once a month.

The important thing is that the Transport Manager can demonstrate continuous and effective management, rather than simply completing a monthly tick-box exercise.

What happens if the Transport Manager doesn't have enough time?

This is particularly important for external Transport Managers.

The Traffic Commissioner considers whether a Transport Manager has enough time to properly manage the operator's fleet. GOV.UK publishes recommended working hours based on fleet size, although individual circumstances can mean that more or fewer hours are appropriate.

An external Transport Manager can work for up to four operators and manage a combined maximum of 50 vehicles, but that does not mean every external TM can simply divide 50 vehicles between four clients and assume the job is manageable.

The Transport Manager must actually have sufficient capacity to carry out the role effectively.

If an operator grows, adds vehicles or becomes more complicated, the amount of management required may increase.

That's something that should be addressed rather than ignored.

Compliance isn't a monthly tick-box exercise

A good monthly review is useful.

But it shouldn't become:

“The TM came in on the 25th, ran a few reports, signed some paperwork and left.”

That isn't what continuous and effective management is about. The Transport Manager needs to understand the operation, monitor its performance, identify shortcomings and make sure corrective action is taken.

That's why a strong compliance system matters.

And it's also why an independent Operator Licence Compliance Audit can be useful.

An audit can provide an objective review of whether the systems you've put in place are actually working — not simply whether the paperwork exists.

Is your transport operation actually compliant?

At Road Haulage Compliance, we provide Transport Compliance Audits for haulage operators who want an independent review of their systems and records.

We can look at areas including: