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Data report

State of the GB operator licence register 2026

The register of goods vehicle and bus and coach operator licences in numbers: who holds licences, how big their fleets are, and what the Traffic Commissioners granted and ended in January to September 2026. Every figure is dated and comes from public-sector open data; the CSV carries all of them.

Great Britain has 69,122 operator licences. In January to September 2026 3,651 new licences were granted and 4,709 were published as revoked, surrendered or terminated.

Licences
69,122
Vehicles authorised
690,447
Granted, January–September 2026
3,651
Revoked, surrendered, terminated
4,709

Key findings

  1. The DVSA file dated 7 September 2026 lists 69,122 operator licences: 64,036 goods vehicle and 5,086 PSV, authorising 690,447 vehicles.
  2. 42% of goods licences authorise two lorries or fewer; the median goods licence authorises 3.
  3. 48% of goods licences are restricted (own goods only); the rest allow carrying goods for hire or reward.
  4. In January to September 2026 the Traffic Commissioners granted 3,651 new licences and published 4,709 as revoked, surrendered or terminated: about 13 ended for every 10 granted.
  5. 967 licences were revoked, 1,685 surrendered and 2,057 terminated; 977 public inquiries were listed.
  6. East of England granted the most new licences: 808, 22% of Great Britain’s.
  7. 259 licence-holding companies were in liquidation or administration at Companies House (0.5% of 47,843 checked).
  8. 200 operators are on DVSA’s earned recognition list; their licences authorise 12% of all vehicles.

The register today

Licences by type, DVSA file 7 September 2026
  • Restricted goods30,757 44%
  • Standard National goods23,553 34%
  • Standard International goods9,726 14%
  • Standard National PSV2,187 3%
  • Standard International PSV1,691 2%
  • Restricted PSV1,208 2%
Licences by holder
  1. Companies (limited companies and LLPs)53,864 licences, 78%
  2. Sole traders and partnerships14,746 licences, 21%
  3. Public bodies, charities and other organisations512 licences, 0.7%

Status in the file: 68,583 valid, 522 curtailed, 17 suspended.

Fleet sizes

Vehicles authorised per licence. Most licences are small: the big fleets sit on a few hundred licences.

Goods vehicle licences by lorries authorised
  1. 1 vehicles:13,504 licences
  2. 2 vehicles:13,384 licences
  3. 3–5 vehicles:17,358 licences
  4. 6–10 vehicles:9,697 licences
  5. 11–25 vehicles:6,049 licences
  6. 26–50 vehicles:2,346 licences
  7. 51–100 vehicles:1,059 licences
  8. 100+ vehicles:638 licences

Median 3. 42% authorise one or two.

PSV licences by vehicles authorised
  1. 1 vehicles:936 licences
  2. 2 vehicles:1,212 licences
  3. 3–5 vehicles:895 licences
  4. 6–10 vehicles:750 licences
  5. 11–25 vehicles:758 licences
  6. 26–50 vehicles:298 licences
  7. 51–100 vehicles:118 licences
  8. 100+ vehicles:119 licences

Median 4.

Biggest haulage companies · Biggest coach and bus operators

Granted and ended, January to September 2026

By the month the Traffic Commissioners published the notice (624 weekly issues read). Each licence counts once per type and month.

New licences granted per month
  1. January 2026:311 licences
  2. February 2026:400 licences
  3. March 2026:439 licences
  4. April 2026:421 licences
  5. May 2026:364 licences
  6. June 2026:428 licences
  7. July 2026:475 licences
  8. August 2026:406 licences
  9. September 2026:407 licences
Licences ended per monthRevokedTerminatedSurrendered
  • January 2026526 licences: 149 revoked, 253 terminated, 124 surrendered
  • February 2026583 licences: 132 revoked, 225 terminated, 226 surrendered
  • March 2026535 licences: 114 revoked, 244 terminated, 177 surrendered
  • April 2026529 licences: 154 revoked, 233 terminated, 142 surrendered
  • May 2026615 licences: 107 revoked, 233 terminated, 275 surrendered
  • June 2026535 licences: 73 revoked, 247 terminated, 215 surrendered
  • July 2026473 licences: 82 revoked, 217 terminated, 174 surrendered
  • August 2026460 licences: 64 revoked, 205 terminated, 191 surrendered
  • September 2026453 licences: 92 revoked, 200 terminated, 161 surrendered
Licences granted and ended per month, January to September 2026
MonthApplicationsGrantedRevokedSurrenderedTerminatedInquiries listed
January 2026486311149124253127
February 2026651400132226225114
March 2026607439114177244109
April 2026637421154142233103
May 2026602364107275233103
June 202658042873215247107
July 202667547582174217108
August 202653740664191205106
September 202659040792161200100

By traffic area

Operator licences by traffic area
  1. East of England13,143 licences, 19%
  2. North East of England10,324 licences, 15%
  3. West of England9,855 licences, 14%
  4. North West of England9,396 licences, 14%
  5. West Midlands8,088 licences, 12%
  6. London and the South East of England7,929 licences, 11%
  7. Scotland5,643 licences, 8%
  8. Wales4,744 licences, 7%
Licences per traffic area, DVSA file 7 September 2026Boundaries: ONS, OGL v3. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2023.
Licences and notices by traffic area, January to September 2026
Traffic areaLicencesVehiclesGrantedEndedInquiries listed
East of England13,143133,885808979158
London and the South East of England7,92986,658386559115
North East of England10,324106,484537697186
North West of England9,39694,671533608123
Scotland5,64361,42021033854
Wales4,74436,43419726963
West Midlands8,08875,045496573160
West of England9,85595,850484686118

Companies behind the licences

Limited companies holding a licence, by their status at Companies House on 30 September 2026. Companies whose name does not match the register are left out.

Licence-holding companies by Companies House status
  1. Active46,938 companies, 98%
  2. Strike-off proposed411 companies, 0.9%
  3. Not on the register202 companies, 0.4%
  4. In liquidation198 companies, 0.4%
  5. In administration61 companies, 0.1%
  6. Voluntary arrangement33 companies, 0.1%
  • 200operators on DVSA’s earned recognition list, 1 October 2026
  • 12%of all vehicles authorised sit on their licences
  • 259companies in liquidation or administration still holding a licence (insolvency watch)

Method and sources

Register figures come from the DVSA operator licence file dated 7 September 2026 (every licence in the file, with its vehicles authorised). Flows come from the 624 weekly Applications and Decisions and Notices and Proceedings issues published between 1 January 2026 and 30 September 2026. A licence listed twice under the same heading in one month counts once; a public inquiry listed again in a later issue counts once.

Company status comes from Companies House. Earned recognition comes from DVSA’s list. The report holds aggregates only: no sole trader or partnership is named anywhere. See methodology for how each field is read.

Please cite as: “HaulierScope, State of the GB operator licence register 2026, from DVSA and Traffic Commissioner open data” with a link to this page. The figures are free to reuse under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Download every figure (CSV)All open data downloads

DVSA file 7 Sep 2026Source: DVSA operator licence data, file dated , read . How we read it

Company facts: Companies House register at . Contains Companies House data.Earned recognition: DVSA’s list updated .Traffic Commissioner decisions and weekly publications: Office of the Traffic Commissioner on GOV.UK. Insolvency notices: The Gazette.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.