Fleet compliance, in plain English
The terms that come up around daily checks and operator licensing, defined simply and linked to the primary source where there is one.
Walkaround check
A walkaround check is the daily inspection a driver carries out before a commercial vehicle is first used, looking for defects that would make it unsafe or unroadworthy. It is a legal requirement for operator-licensed vehicles; any defect found must be recorded and put right before driving.
Source: DVSA guide to maintaining roadworthiness →First-use check
The first-use check is the walkaround inspection done before a vehicle's first journey of the working day. "First use" means the first time the vehicle is driven that day, not each individual trip, so one recorded daily check normally covers the day's work unless a defect appears.
PG9 (prohibition notice)
A PG9 is a prohibition notice a DVSA examiner issues at the roadside or at a site when a vehicle has a defect serious enough to stop it being used. It can be immediate or delayed, and the vehicle cannot lawfully be driven until the fault is fixed and the prohibition is cleared.
Prohibition
A prohibition is an official order preventing a vehicle from being used because of a roadworthiness or safety defect. Immediate prohibitions stop the vehicle at once; delayed prohibitions give a short period to rectify. Prohibitions are recorded against the operator and feed into DVSA's Operator Compliance Risk Score.
Operator licence (O-licence)
An operator licence is the authorisation a business needs to use goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, or public service vehicles, for hire, reward or in connection with a trade. It is granted by a Traffic Commissioner and commits the operator to undertakings on maintenance, drivers' hours and roadworthiness.
Source: GOV.UK — being a goods vehicle operator →Transport manager (TM)
A transport manager is the qualified person who continuously and effectively manages the transport activities of an operator licensed for standard operations. They hold a Transport Manager CPC, are named on the licence, and are legally responsible for the operator meeting its maintenance and compliance undertakings.
CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence)
The Certificate of Professional Competence is the qualification proving professional competence in road transport. Transport managers hold a management CPC to be named on a standard operator licence; professional lorry, bus and coach drivers hold a driver CPC and must complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years.
PMI (Preventative Maintenance Inspection)
A Preventative Maintenance Inspection is the scheduled safety inspection an operator arranges for each vehicle and trailer at set intervals, separate from the daily walkaround. The inspection covers a defined list of items, produces a signed report, and its frequency is one of the undertakings on the operator licence.
VOR (Vehicle Off Road)
VOR — Vehicle Off Road — is the status given to a vehicle taken out of service because it is unsafe, has a serious defect, or is awaiting repair. Marking a vehicle VOR removes it from daily-check and dispatch duty until it is repaired and signed off as roadworthy.
Rectification
Rectification is the recorded act of repairing a reported defect and confirming the vehicle is roadworthy again. A complete audit trail pairs each defect with its rectification — what was done, by whom and when — so the record shows not just that a fault was found but that it was fixed.
DVSA
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is the UK government agency responsible for setting and enforcing roadworthiness and driver standards. DVSA runs MOT testing, roadside enforcement, operator compliance and the guidance — including the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness — that daily walkaround checks are built around.
Source: DVSA on GOV.UK →Roadworthiness
Roadworthiness is the condition of a vehicle being safe and legal to use on the road — brakes, tyres, steering, lights, structure and emissions all within standard. Operators licensed by a Traffic Commissioner give an undertaking to keep their vehicles roadworthy, evidenced by daily checks and preventative maintenance inspections.
Defect
A defect is any fault that affects, or could affect, a vehicle's roadworthiness or safety — from a blown bulb to a brake fault. Drivers report defects found on the walkaround check; the operator must record them and ensure any safety-critical defect is rectified before the vehicle is driven.
The 15-month rule
Operators must keep daily walkaround check records, defect reports and safety-inspection records for at least 15 months. The window reflects DVSA's requirement to be able to demonstrate a continuous maintenance history at audit or a public inquiry, and is the minimum retention period for roadworthiness paperwork.
The daily walkaround check these terms revolve around is free forever on FleetMark — DVSA-aligned, on any phone.