Britain's operator-licence register, by traffic area
Every goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes and every bus or coach used commercially needs an operator licence. Here's the whole national picture, recomputed each week from the official register.
Operator licences by traffic area
| Traffic area | Operators | Licences | Vehicles specified |
|---|---|---|---|
| East of England | 13,127 | 13,150 | 85,963 |
| North East of England | 10,290 | 10,314 | 67,960 |
| West of England | 9,845 | 9,880 | 62,501 |
| North West of England | 9,400 | 9,417 | 60,795 |
| West Midlands | 8,037 | 8,049 | 46,960 |
| London and the South East of England | 7,952 | 7,974 | 58,036 |
| Scotland | 5,642 | 5,674 | 39,208 |
| Wales | 4,728 | 4,748 | 24,608 |
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<iframe src="https://fleetmark.co.uk/embed/data/operator-licences" width="100%" height="440" style="border:1px solid #e5eaf2;border-radius:12px" title="UK operator licences by traffic area" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="font:13px sans-serif;color:#48566c">Source: <a href="https://fleetmark.co.uk/data/operator-licences">UK operator licences by traffic area — FleetMark</a></p>
Methodology
Figures are derived from the Traffic Commissioners' goods and PSV operator-licence register, pulled on 23 July 2026 and recomputed each week. Each licence is counted once (the register lists a row per named director or transport manager, so raw row counts overstate vehicle numbers). Vehicles specified are those actually named on a licence; vehicles authorised is the maximum each licence permits, so the authorised total is always the higher figure.
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Explore a traffic area: East of England · North East of England · West of England · North West of England · West Midlands · London and the South East of England · Scotland · Wales