Search the GB operator licence register
Type a licence number as it appears on the disc — OB0001095 — or the name of an operator. 69,173 licences, 691,470 authorised vehicles, from the DVSA record published under the Open Government Licence.
What this answers
An operator licence — an O licence — is what lets a business run goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes in Great Britain. Three things about it are public, and all three are hard to look up one at a time:
- whether a licence exists at all, and in whose name;
- how many vehicles it authorises — the number that tells you whether the operator you are about to hire has three lorries or three hundred;
- whether it is in normal standing, or has been curtailed or suspended by a Traffic Commissioner.
The last one is the reason most people arrive here. The register publishes it. Nothing lists it.
Why you would need the number
The licence number is asked for in places you cannot argue with: a haulier's own application to vary an operator licence (form GV81), the maintenance contract a Traffic Commissioner will ask to see at a public inquiry, the operator details a shipper's carrier approval form demands before a first load, and every insurance proposal for goods in transit. In each case someone else sets the deadline, and the number is not on any document the customer holds.
Look it up here, or start from 114 postcode areas, three licence types or eight fleet sizes.
Where the licences are
- B — Birmingham — 2,003
- S — Sheffield — 1,603
- PE — Peterborough — 1,480
- DN — Doncaster — 1,466
- LE — Leicester — 1,373
- DE — Derby — 1,209
- SA — Swansea — 1,166
- NG — Nottingham — 1,151
- BS — Bristol — 1,107
- IP — Ipswich — 1,083
- CF — Cardiff — 1,045
- CM — Chelmsford — 1,033
- RM — Romford — 1,028
- CV — Coventry — 1,023
- M — Manchester — 1,019
- NN — Northampton — 1,000
- SY — Shrewsbury — 970
- ST — Stoke-on-Trent — 940
- NE — Newcastle upon Tyne — 932
- WA — Warrington — 910
- LL — Llandudno — 902
- ME — Medway — 901
- YO — York — 834
- NR — Norwich — 829
Licences not in normal standing
555 licences on the register are currently curtailed or suspended — 0.8 % of the total. Both are live restrictions imposed by a Traffic Commissioner, and both are published in the register without ever being listed anywhere.
The 539 curtailed licences · The 16 suspended licences
Need something moved?
A licence tells you an operator is allowed to carry goods. It does not tell you they will quote, or that they cover your route. Tell us what you need moved and where from, and we will take the requirement to licensed operators in that area. We are not a broker and hold no prices — what we can do is put your request in front of people permitted to do the work.
We read every message ourselves. Your e-mail is used to reply and to pass the requirement on, and nothing else — see the privacy page.
Bulk lookups and API · Buy the prepared dataset · What this site is and is not