“Our mission is to ensure road safety and maintain public confidence in the commercial driving sector,” said Senior Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt earlier this year. From 1 January 2026, enforcement teams across Great Britain and Northern Ireland will have quicker access to your operator record as the UK reconnects to the European Registers of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU). For hauliers from Teesside to Trafford Park, that means your company’s compliance picture can be pulled up at the roadside, not weeks later in an office.

The Department for Transport has made regulations on 17 November and laid them before Parliament on 19 November to implement two decisions of the UK‑EU Specialised Committee on Road Transport under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. One decision updates the common list of serious infringements that can cost an operator their good repute; the other sets the rules for interlinking national registers and exchanging data. Together, they pave the way for UK systems to talk to ERRU again.

For operators, the most visible change is what sits on your national record. Your risk rating band and the registration numbers of vehicles you run will be part of the data available to competent authorities during checks. The European Commission has already confirmed that additional information, including risk indicators, should be available during roadside enforcement, not just back-office reviews. In practice, that shortens the feedback loop between a defect found, a record updated, and future targeting.

Risk isn’t a mystery score. Under the common formula used across Europe, undertakings fall into Grey, Green, Amber or Red bands based on the number and gravity of infringements over a two‑year window, with ‘clean’ checks logged too. That approach favours firms that run tight systems and can demonstrate compliant tachograph use and maintenance.

Who’s actually pressing the buttons? In Great Britain it’s the Traffic Commissioners – the independent regulators for HGV and PSV operators – and in Northern Ireland it’s the Department for Infrastructure’s Transport Regulation Unit. If you’re running out of Leeds or Liverpool your licensing authority remains a Traffic Commissioner; if you’re based in Belfast or Derry/Londonderry it’s DfI’s TRU.

Good repute thresholds are also being refreshed in line with long‑standing EU rules. Tachograph manipulation, systematic rest‑time breaches, or linking pay to distance or delivery speed all sit in the crosshairs and can trigger action against an operator’s good repute. Expect consistency with the EU’s 2016/403 framework so UK and EU authorities assess seriousness on comparable terms.

Light van operators who cross borders should not assume they are out of scope. Since Mobility Package changes in 2020, access‑to‑profession rules extend to international goods operations with vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes. If you run small vehicles to and from the island of Ireland or the near continent, check your licensing, transport manager arrangements and record‑keeping now.

Across the Irish Sea, Dublin has also updated its rulebook this year to align with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s data‑sharing provisions. For Northern hauliers working into the Republic, that means enforcement bodies on both sides of the border are operating to compatible data standards, reducing excuses and speeding up decisions.

Day to day, the changes boil down to faster data, clearer records and fewer grey areas. Authorities will expect operators to keep vehicle lists current, ensure transport manager credentials are valid, and maintain tachographs to the letter. ‘Clean’ checks help your score; repeated infringements push you up the risk bands. The message is simple: get your house in order before the New Year.

For Northern firms moving steel, food and parcels through Teesport, Port of Tyne, the Humber, Merseyside and Holyhead routes, this isn’t a theoretical tweak – it will shape who gets pulled in and how quickly matters are resolved. The technology is there; the cooperation framework is agreed. Now it’s about operators proving – at the roadside – that they run safe, legal fleets.