Your vans are your business. When one's off the road — failed MOT, lapsed insurance, breakdown from missed servicing — you're losing money. For a business with 5+ vehicles, tracking compliance manually is a recipe for missed deadlines and unexpected downtime.
What You Need to Track Per Vehicle
Every vehicle in your fleet has multiple compliance dates:
- MOT expiry: Annual, no grace period. Driving without is a £1,000 fine and invalidates your insurance.
- Insurance renewal: Annual or monthly. A van with lapsed insurance on the road is an offence and exposes you to unlimited personal liability.
- Vehicle tax (VED): Monthly or annual. Driving untaxed is a £1,000 fine.
- Service schedule: Manufacturer-recommended intervals (usually 12,000 miles or 12 months). Missed services can void your warranty and increase breakdown risk.
- Tyre condition: Legal minimum 1.6mm tread depth. £2,500 fine and 3 penalty points per illegal tyre — that's up to £10,000 and 12 points for a van with 4 bad tyres.
- Tachograph calibration: If applicable (vehicles over 3.5 tonnes), every 2 years.
- Operator's licence: If you run vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.
The Real Cost of Missed Compliance
Beyond fines, the business impact is significant:
- Vehicle off road: A failed MOT means the van can't legally drive until repaired and retested. That's a lost worker for a day or more.
- Insurance void: If your insurance has lapsed and there's an accident, you're personally liable for all damages. This can bankrupt a business.
- Customer impact: Jobs get cancelled or delayed when vehicles are unexpectedly off road.
- Reputation: Turning up in an untaxed, uninsured van — even unknowingly — doesn't inspire customer confidence.
A Simple Tracking System
At minimum, you need a spreadsheet (or ideally software) that tracks:
| Vehicle | Reg | MOT due | Insurance due | Tax due | Next service | Miles |
|---|
| Ford Transit | AB12 CDE | 15 Mar 2026 | 1 Apr 2026 | 1 Jun 2026 | 45,000 mi | 43,200 |
|---|
| VW Caddy | FG34 HIJ | 22 May 2026 | 1 Apr 2026 | 1 Apr 2026 | 30,000 mi | 28,100 |
|---|
Set calendar reminders for 30 days, 14 days, and 7 days before each deadline.
Automating Fleet Compliance
Manual tracking breaks down as fleets grow. You need something that:
- Pulls MOT dates from DVLA automatically (Gaffer does this using the DVLA API)
- Sends expiry alerts at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days
- Tracks actual mileage from GPS (not estimated)
- Shows a compliance dashboard — red/amber/green at a glance
- Sends you a weekly fleet compliance summary
Gaffer's compliance tracking covers all vehicle compliance alongside worker certifications. When you activate a GPS tracker, the vehicle's MOT, insurance, and tax dates are pulled from DVLA automatically using the registration number. Mileage-based service alerts use actual GPS mileage, not guesswork.
Daily Vehicle Checks
Under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, drivers must ensure their vehicle is roadworthy before each journey. In practice, this means a daily walk-around check covering:
- Tyres (pressure, tread, damage)
- Lights (headlights, indicators, brake lights, reverse lights)
- Mirrors and windscreen (chips, cracks, wipers)
- Fluid levels (oil, coolant, washer fluid)
- Brakes (including handbrake)
- Load security (tools, materials)
Gaffer's field worker app includes a digital vehicle check that takes 2 minutes. Your team does it when they start their day. Any defects flag immediately for you to action before the van goes out.
The O-Licence Question
If any of your vehicles exceed 3.5 tonnes GVW (gross vehicle weight), you need an Operator's Licence from the Traffic Commissioner. This is a significant compliance obligation:
- Designated Transport Manager (must hold CPC qualification)
- Maintenance contracts with authorised repairers
- Driver hours tracking (tachograph)
- Annual DVSA MOT inspection
Most trade businesses stick to vehicles under 3.5 tonnes specifically to avoid O-licence requirements. If you do need one, budget for the additional compliance overhead.
Start Simple, Then Automate
If you're currently tracking nothing, start with the spreadsheet approach above. Get every vehicle's key dates in one place. Then, as your fleet grows, move to software that automates the reminders and pulls data from DVLA.
The cost of getting it wrong — a £1,000 fine, an uninsured accident, a worker stranded with a failed MOT — far exceeds the cost of a simple tracking system.