Preparing for a public inquiry with the Traffic Commissioner

A public inquiry (PI) is a formal hearing before a Traffic Commissioner where your operator's licence - and often your livelihood - is on the line. The Commissioner can revoke, suspend or curtail the licence, disqualify an operator or director from holding one, and strip a transport manager of their repute and CPC. If you have been called, treat it as the most important meeting your business will ever attend.

Why operators get called

A PI is almost never a surprise. It is the end of a trail: a maintenance investigation marked unsatisfactory, repeated prohibitions, a poor OCRS, drivers' hours or tachograph offences, a loss of financial standing, relevant convictions, or simply not responding to the Commissioner's office. The call-up letter will set out the specific concerns - read it carefully, because those are the points you must answer.

The two questions the Commissioner is really asking

Traffic Commissioners work from two well-known tests drawn from Upper Tribunal case law:

• The Priority Freight question - how likely is it that this operator will comply in the future? Your job is to make the honest answer "very likely", and to prove it.
• The Bryan Haulage question - is the conduct so serious that the operator deserves to be put out of business? You want the file to show conduct that, while it fell short, does not warrant losing the licence.

Everything you prepare should push those two answers in your favour.

How to prepare

• Get specialist help early. A transport solicitor or an experienced O-licence consultant will know how the Commissioner thinks and what evidence lands. Do not go in alone if the licence matters to you.
• Commission an independent compliance audit and, crucially, fix what it finds before the hearing. A recent independent audit showing you have put things right is one of the strongest cards you can hold.
• Assemble the evidence of change. Safety inspections now on time and to standard, brake tests recorded, driver defect reporting working, tachograph analysis with driver debriefs, training records, and a transport manager genuinely back in control.
• Sort financial standing. Have the bank statements or evidence ready in the required form - loss of financial standing alone can cost the licence.
• Prepare to be honest. Commissioners respond to insight and candour far better than to excuses. Show you understand what went wrong, why, and what you changed.
• Offer undertakings. Volunteering specific, checkable commitments (an independent audit in six months, a shorter inspection interval, driver training) can demonstrate the future compliance the Priority Freight question is testing.

On the day

Attend in person, bring your evidence in order, let your representative lead, and answer straight. The operators who keep their licences are usually the ones who walked in able to show a system already fixed - not a promise to fix it later.

How OperatorCompliance helps

The difference between a good PI and a disaster is often whether you can prove the operation is now under control. OperatorCompliance gives you a complete, dated, exportable audit trail - inspections, brake results, defect reports, tachograph analysis and driver-signed reports - so you can walk in with the evidence of change already assembled rather than reconstructed. See how it works or start a free 14-day trial.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Take specialist advice on any public inquiry, and check the Senior Traffic Commissioner's statutory documents on GOV.UK.

Frequently asked questions

What is a public inquiry with the Traffic Commissioner?

A public inquiry is a formal hearing where a Traffic Commissioner can revoke, suspend or curtail your operator's licence, disqualify an operator or director from holding one, and strip a transport manager of their repute and CPC. It is the end of a trail rather than a surprise, so the call-up letter sets out the specific concerns you must answer.

Why do operators get called to a public inquiry?

Common triggers are a maintenance investigation marked unsatisfactory, repeated prohibitions, a poor OCRS, drivers' hours or tachograph offences, loss of financial standing, relevant convictions, or simply not responding to the Commissioner's office. Read the call-up letter carefully, because the concerns it lists are exactly the points the hearing will turn on.

How should I prepare for a public inquiry?

Get specialist help early, commission an independent compliance audit and fix what it finds before the hearing, and assemble the evidence of change: inspections on time, brake tests recorded, defect reporting working, tachograph analysis with driver debriefs, training records and financial standing in the required form. Volunteering specific, checkable undertakings can also help your case.

What questions does the Traffic Commissioner ask?

Commissioners work from two well-known tests. The Priority Freight question asks how likely it is you will comply in future, so your job is to make the honest answer very likely and prove it. The Bryan Haulage question asks whether the conduct is so serious you deserve to be put out of business. Everything you prepare should push both answers in your favour.

Sources

• Traffic commissioners: statutory guidance and statutory directions
• Traffic commissioners
• Being a goods vehicle operator