Our Services
Tell me what's actually wrong
Not what you think the fix is — just the problem. "We keep failing MOTs and I don't know why" is a better starting point than a list of services..
I'll tell you straight
Sometimes the answer is a proper piece of consultancy. Sometimes it's a £10 spreadsheet and twenty minutes of your time. I'll tell you which, even when it's the cheaper one.
Fixed scope, fixed price
You'll know what's being done and what it costs before anything starts. No open-ended day rates quietly adding up.
You keep the tools
You don't just get a full report. You get something you can keep using after I've gone — and you'll know how it works.
Transport, Logistics & Compliance Services
1. LOGISTICS CONSULTANCY
Fleet reviews, costings, systems and planning
Most operators know something isn't working. Fewer know exactly where the money is going, or which of five possible fixes is the one worth doing.
That's the work. I come in, look at what you're actually running, and tell you what I find — with numbers behind it.
Fleet review & cost analysis What your fleet genuinely costs to run, per vehicle and per mile, including the costs that usually get missed — downtime, employer NI, rising maintenance on ageing vehicles. Then where the money is leaking, and what's worth fixing first.
Routing & scheduling systems Choosing, implementing and getting value out of a routing system. I've run these implementations, including the part nobody talks about: getting drivers and planners to actually use it once it's live.
Network & depot planning Which depot should serve which postcodes, where your coverage gaps are, and whether your network shape still matches the work you're winning.
Fleet costings & budgeting Building a cost model you can actually run the business from — and defend to a finance director.
Tender & contract pricing Working out what a contract genuinely costs you to service before you quote it, so you're not discovering the margin problem in month four.
Make-or-break decisions Keep the vehicle or replace it. Employ drivers or use agency. Run it in-house or hand it to a 3PL. Decisions where getting it wrong is expensive and the answer is rarely obvious.
Systems & process setup Defect reporting, PMI scheduling, driver files, warehouse and stock systems — set up so they work day to day, not just so they look right in an audit.
2. TOOLS & SPREADSHEETS
Ready-built tools for running a fleet
Every tool on this site started life solving a real problem in a real operation — usually at half six in the evening, usually because someone needed an answer by the morning.
Free calculators — fuel costs, running cost per mile, drivers' hours, VED including HGV rates, Clean Air Zone and ULEZ charges, tolls, CO2, load weight and break-even mileage. No sign-up, no email required.
Paid spreadsheet tools — fleet cost dashboards, route profitability, driver and wage planning, recruitment and absence costing, vehicle replacement decisions, tender pricing, maintenance and compliance tracking, TM CPC checklists, and postcode-based distance, coverage and depot mapping built on a database of every UK postcode district.
Everything works in Excel or Google Sheets. Nothing to install, nothing to get past your IT department, no subscription.
3. EXTERNAL TRANSPORT MANAGER
Named transport manager on your O-licence
If you hold — or are applying for — a standard O-licence but don't have a CPC holder in the business, you need a designated transport manager. Employing one full-time is a serious cost for a small fleet. An external transport manager gives you the same professional competence on a monthly retainer.
What's included
Named as designated transport manager on your operator's licence (TM1 submitted via VOL)
Regular scheduled visits to your operating centre
Oversight of your maintenance and PMI schedule, driver defect reporting and inspection records
Tachograph download review, and drivers' hours / Working Time Directive infringement management
Driver licence checking and CPC training record oversight
MOT and prohibition monitoring, plus OCRS review
Ongoing advice on your O-licence undertakings — and honest warning when something needs fixing
A written contract setting out duties, hours, visit frequency, fee and termination
Why there are only four places
Under the Senior Traffic Commissioner's Statutory Document No. 3, an external transport manager may act for a maximum of four operators, across a combined maximum of 50 vehicles. That's a legal cap, not a marketing one — so I take on a small number of operators and give each genuine, continuous and effective management, which is exactly what the Traffic Commissioner expects to see.
It also means I'll be straight with you: if I don't have the capacity to properly manage your fleet, I'll say so rather than take the fee.
Best suited to
Small fleets (roughly 2–10 vehicles)
New operators applying for their first O-licence
Operators in Oxfordshire and surrounding counties — proximity to your operating centre matters to the Traffic Commissioner, and it means I can actually attend site properly
Operators who've lost a transport manager and need cover quickly, including during a Period of Grace
Fee: Monthly retainer, scaled to fleet size and required hours.
4. EXTERNAL COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
The compliance work, handled — without adding to your headcount
You already have a CPC holder in the business. What you don't have is anyone with the time to actually do the compliance work properly — so tachograph downloads pile up, licence checks slip, and defect reports go into a folder nobody reads until something goes wrong.
This is that work, done month to month, without me being named on your licence.
What's included
Tachograph downloads analysed, infringements identified and reported
Driver licence checks run and recorded
Working Time Directive monitoring
Driver defect reports reviewed for patterns and repeat issues
PMI and inspection scheduling kept on track
Driver CPC and training records maintained
Record retention managed so you're audit-ready as a matter of course
A regular written summary: what's compliant, what's slipping, what needs your attention
One-off compliance work
If you'd rather have a specific piece of work done than an ongoing arrangement:
Mock DVSA audit — a full compliance review before the DVSA does it for you, with a written report, prioritised findings and a realistic action plan
O-licence application support — financial standing, operating centre suitability, advertising, maintenance arrangements, and preparation for the questions that get asked
Public Inquiry preparation — practical help preparing your evidence, your compliance improvements and your case
Transport Manager CPC coaching — one-to-one support for candidates preparing for the exam, from someone who's held the qualification and used it daily
No cap on numbers. The four-operator limit applies only to being named as transport manager on a licence — this service isn't affected by it.
WHY WORK WITH ME
I've actually done the job. Not a consultant who's read the guidance — 18 years in management, 12 of them running real transport operations, with the International CPC to back it up.
I'll tell you what you need to hear. A transport manager who only tells you what you want to hear is a liability. If something on your licence is a problem, you'll hear it from me before you hear it from the Traffic Commissioner.
Sometimes the answer is cheap. If your problem is solved by a £10 spreadsheet rather than a consultancy project, I'll tell you that. It costs me a fee and buys me a customer who trusts me.
Small operators come first here. Most compliance consultancies are built and priced around large fleets. The tools, the pricing and the services here are built for operators running a handful of vehicles.
FAQ
Do I need a transport manager? If you hold a standard national or standard international O-licence, yes — you must have a designated transport manager who is of good repute and professionally competent. Restricted licence holders don't.
What's the difference between consultancy and external compliance management? Consultancy is project work with an end point — a fleet review, a routing implementation, a cost model. External compliance management is ongoing: the recurring compliance admin handled month after month. Plenty of operators start with the first and move to the second.
Can you be my transport manager if I'm not local? Possibly, but the Traffic Commissioner considers the distance between a transport manager's base and your operating centre when assessing whether management can genuinely be continuous and effective. I'm in Oxfordshire, so operators in the surrounding region are the best fit. Get in touch and we'll work out honestly whether it's viable.
How quickly can you start as transport manager? The contract needs to be signed before the TM1 is submitted through VOL, and the Traffic Commissioner then reviews the nomination. Get in touch and I'll talk you through realistic timescales for your situation.
What if I already have a transport manager? Then services 1, 2 and 4 are all still open to you — a fleet review, a mock audit, or ongoing compliance support that backs up your existing TM rather than replacing them.
Do you work with operators outside Oxfordshire? For consultancy, tools and compliance management — yes, anywhere in the UK. It's only the named transport manager role where geography genuinely matters.
UK Transport Tools is a trading name of Shawn Reiszner. Contracts for external transport manager services are entered into personally with Shawn Reiszner, as required by the Senior Traffic Commissioner's Statutory Document No. 3.