Transport for London (TfL) will fast-track hauliers’ bulk applications for Direct Vision Standard (DVS) grace period permits only for those applying for more than 100 trucks, writes Carol Millett.
It leaves smaller hauliers facing a much lengthier process, which they warn is creating a major bottleneck. Hauliers requiring grace period permits for 99 trucks or less said the move does not go far enough, leaving them to make single applications for each truck, which they warn is creating major delays in the application process.
The boss of one Scottish haulier told Transport News he was on the verge of giving up delivering in London as ‘its too much hassle for what we get from the work’, and added: “We don’t have a large fleet, so we’re disadvantaged because if it?”
Another transport manager from a major fleet operator told Transport News the process was a shambles: “You submit one vehicle, and if it goes through, okay. Then you submit the same application [for anther truck] and it gets rejected. It’s as if the people approving the applications have no technical understanding.
“They change the goalposts all the time and they fail to register the information we have already sent them. I am sure the various departments are not communicating with one another, and we do not have anyone we can contact.”
Bulk applications can be made between 1 October 2024 and 23:59 on 27 October 2024.
Responding, TfL said: “We encourage operators to apply as early as possible in this window so that any unforeseen issues with their application can be resolved.”
It also warned that grace periods will be granted or rejected for the application as a whole, not on an individual vehicle basis, so all necessary evidence needs to be provided.
