If you are a nominated Transport Manager, you already know that passing your CPC exam was only the beginning.
Your role involves continuous and effective management of the transport operation. You must keep up with operator licensing, drivers’ hours, tachographs, maintenance, driver records and regulatory changes.
That is where a Transport Manager Refresher Course helps.
Open Road Training Ltd delivers a two-day Transport Manager CPC Refresher and Compliance Awareness course from our training centre at 29 Hope Street, Motherwell. The course is suitable for both Road Haulage and Passenger Transport professionals.
Both days are built around DVSA expectations and the actual questions DVSA will ask during an audit. This means the course focuses on what is genuinely relevant to your role and your records. It helps keep you one step ahead. It is not a two-day death by PowerPoint course. It is practical compliance training based on what you may actually be asked to show and explain.
It costs £350 + VAT. You can also add up to 14 hours of Driver CPC across the two days if you are an eligible professional driver.
But what actually happens during the course?
1. What is the Transport Manager Refresher Course for?
1.1 Is this another Transport Manager CPC exam?
No.
The full Transport Manager CPC qualification is your initial professional competence award. It is not a qualification that simply expires after a set period.
The two-day refresher is different. It is continuing professional development (CPD). It gives you structured, recent training and evidence that you are keeping your professional knowledge current.
You are not attending to repeat the full CPC qualification. You are attending to review your responsibilities and understand current compliance expectations.
The Senior Traffic Commissioner’s Statutory Document 3 states:
“Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities.”
It also explains:
“If there has been sometime since CPD was undertaken the starting point for evidence would be for the completion of a 2 day transport manager CPC refresher course.”
This means the course can provide useful evidence for your CPD file. It can also help you prepare for an operator licence renewal, compliance audit or Public Inquiry.
1.2 Is refresher training legally required every five years?
There is no fixed five-year renewal cycle for Transport Manager CPC in the same way that there is for Driver CPC.
However, you still have an ongoing professional responsibility to remain competent and up to date. Statutory Document 3 identifies situations where evidence of CPD may be expected, including:
- When your CPC qualification is more than 10 years old.
- When you have not recently been specified as a Transport Manager.
- When you are applying to be specified on more than one licence.
- When an operator licence is being renewed.
- When your role or working hours are being considered.
- At a Public Inquiry where your management of compliance is questioned.
So, while the refresher is not a simple “licence renewal”, it is a strong and practical way to demonstrate current professional development.
2. What happens on Day One?
Day One is built around DVSA expectations and the questions an auditor is likely to ask. The aim is simple: cover what is relevant, practical and capable of being evidenced. This helps keep you one step ahead. It also avoids turning the day into a two-day death by PowerPoint exercise.
2.1 The morning: your role and operator licence responsibilities
The first day starts by putting your Transport Manager role into context.
You will review what it means to manage transport continuously and effectively. This is more than being named on an operator licence. You must have the time, authority, knowledge and access to records needed to manage the operation properly.
The classroom discussion covers areas such as:
- Your operator licence type and conditions.
- Licence undertakings.
- The relationship between the operator and Transport Manager.
- Internal and external Transport Manager responsibilities.
- Notifying changes to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.
- Operating centres and authorised vehicles.
- Driver and vehicle records.
- Delegating tasks while retaining overall responsibility.
- The importance of having effective compliance systems.
The Senior Traffic Commissioner’s guidance makes clear that a Transport Manager must not be a manager in name only.
This is particularly important if you are responsible for more than one operation, work part-time or act as an external Transport Manager. You need to be able to show how you exercise control over the day-to-day operation.
2.2 Licence renewals and compliance evidence
The course then looks at the evidence that supports a compliant operator licence.
This part is shaped around the kind of questions DVSA will ask during an audit. Can you produce the right records? Can you explain your system? Can you show what action was taken when something went wrong? That is the standard the day is working to.
You will consider how to organise and maintain:
- Driver licence check records.
- Driver training records.
- Tachograph analysis.
- Maintenance inspection records.
- Defect reports.
- Remedial action records.
- Operator licence documentation.
- Transport Manager CPD evidence.
This is practical work. The aim is to help you identify gaps in your own systems.
For example, it is not enough to say that drivers’ hours are monitored. You should be able to show who reviews the records, how infringements are investigated and what action follows.
The GOV.UK operator compliance audit guidance highlights the importance of documentary evidence. Verbal assurances carry much less weight than clear records showing what was checked and what was done.
2.3 The afternoon: drivers’ hours and tachographs
Drivers’ hours and tachographs are central parts of Transport Manager compliance.
During the afternoon, you will revisit the rules and the management systems used to apply them. Topics include:
- Daily and weekly driving limits.
- Breaks and rest periods.
- Reduced and regular daily rest.
- Weekly rest requirements.
- Working Time Regulations.
- EU or assimilated rules and domestic rules.
- Mixed operations.
- Digital and analogue tachographs.
- Driver card and vehicle unit downloads.
- Tachograph infringement analysis.
- Missing, damaged or lost records.
- Repeat infringements.
- Remedial and disciplinary action.
You will also consider the management process behind the rules.
What happens when a driver repeatedly exceeds their hours? Who reviews the infringement? How do you record the conversation? When is further training appropriate?
The objective is not simply to remember limits. It is to make sure your business has a reliable system for preventing, identifying and correcting problems.
3. What happens on Day Two?
Day Two follows the same approach. It is built around DVSA expectations and the actual questions DVSA will ask during an audit, with a strong focus on roadworthiness, maintenance systems and enforcement risk. This keeps the training practical and relevant. It is designed to help you stay one step ahead, not sit through slides that do not connect to your operation.
3.1 The morning: vehicles, maintenance and roadworthiness
Day Two moves into vehicle and operational compliance.
You will review how to manage:
- Preventive Maintenance Inspection schedules.
- Vehicle and trailer records.
- Defect reporting.
- Out-of-service vehicles.
- Annual tests and prohibitions.
- Maintenance providers.
- Forward planners.
- Brake testing.
- Driver walkaround checks.
- Vehicle documentation.
- Roadworthiness audits.
The Transport Manager remains responsible for making sure maintenance systems are effective, even when work is contracted to an outside garage.
That means you need to know what is being checked, when it is being checked and how you follow up any failures.
You will also consider how poor maintenance can affect the operator’s compliance history and potentially lead to regulatory action.
3.2 Passenger transport considerations
The course is suitable for both road haulage and passenger transport Transport Managers.
The core compliance principles are similar, but passenger operations have their own considerations. These may include:
- Bus and coach driver management.
- Passenger safety.
- Vehicle accessibility requirements.
- Service and route planning.
- Incident reporting.
- Passenger vehicle maintenance.
- The additional responsibilities attached to PSV operations.
If you work across passenger transport, the classroom gives you the opportunity to relate the general principles to your own operation.
3.3 The afternoon: enforcement and Public Inquiries
The final part of the course focuses on enforcement, compliance improvement and regulatory scrutiny.
Again, the emphasis is on what DVSA and the Traffic Commissioner will actually expect you to know, evidence and act on in real life.
You will discuss:
- DVSA roadside enforcement.
- Operator Compliance Risk Score.
- Prohibitions and fixed penalties.
- Serious infringements.
- Public Inquiry procedures.
- Traffic Commissioner expectations.
- Compliance audits.
- Undertakings and remedial action.
- Preparing evidence of improvement.
What happens if your operator receives a letter calling you to a Public Inquiry?
The answer is not to wait until the hearing to start gathering documents. You should already have a clear record of your compliance systems, the problems identified and the steps taken to correct them.
A two-day refresher course may be particularly relevant where a Traffic Commissioner has recommended or required further training. However, attendance alone does not resolve an underlying compliance failure. You must still put effective systems into practice.
Don’t shoot the messenger: the certificate is useful, but the actions you take afterwards matter just as much.
4. How does the course support your CPD record?
At the end of the course, you should retain your course evidence with your wider CPD records.
Your file may include:
- Course title and provider.
- Dates attended.
- Course content or syllabus.
- Certificate or attendance record.
- Notes about learning outcomes.
- Actions you plan to take within your operation.
This gives you a clear response if an operator, auditor or Traffic Commissioner asks:
What continuing professional development have you undertaken, and how recently have you updated your CPC knowledge?
You should also record any changes you make after the course. For example, you may update your tachograph infringement procedure, introduce a better maintenance audit or revise your driver licence checking process.
5. What are your booking options?
| Option | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Transport Manager Refresher and Compliance Awareness | Two days of refresher and compliance training for Road Haulage or Passenger Transport |
| Refresher plus Driver CPC | The same two-day course, with up to 14 hours of optional Driver CPC for eligible professional drivers |
The refresher course costs £350 + VAT.
The optional Driver CPC element is recorded separately. Transport Manager CPD does not replace the Driver CPC requirement, and Driver CPC does not replace your professional responsibilities as a Transport Manager.
6. Why choose Open Road Training?
Open Road Training Ltd provides transport and logistics training from Central Scotland.
You will learn from DVSA-approved instructors who understand the practical pressures of running vehicles, managing drivers and maintaining compliance records.
We also run:
- ADR training every month.
- Driver CPC courses every month.
- Full Transport Manager CPC courses in November 2026.
- Transport Manager CPD and compliance training.
The two-day refresher is designed to be practical, current and relevant to the work you actually do.
7. Book your Transport Manager Refresher Course
If your CPC qualification is becoming dated, your operator licence is due for renewal or you need stronger evidence of recent CPD, this two-day course could be the right next step.
The course is suitable for:
- Road Haulage Transport Managers.
- Passenger Transport Transport Managers.
- Internal Transport Managers.
- External Transport Managers.
- Operators and responsible people who need a clearer understanding of compliance.
View upcoming dates and book through the Course Dates page.
You can also contact Open Road Training Ltd on 01698 598 665 or email info@open-road.org.
Keep your knowledge current. Strengthen your CPD evidence. Use the two days to review the systems that protect your drivers, vehicles and operator licence.
