The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has published a new Van Standard aimed at helping businesses running light goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes understand and meet their legal and compliance obligations.
The new van operating guidance is designed to support businesses working solely with vans, as well as those running mixed fleets where vans supplement heavy goods vehicles for local, last-mile or time-critical work.
According to the RHA, the standard has been developed in response to growing pressure on van operators, particularly around enforcement activity by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and continued uncertainty over how existing regulations apply to light commercial vehicles.
The RHA Van Standard pulls together the core responsibilities operators are expected to manage, including:
Rather than introducing new rules, the document sets out what the RHA describes as reasonable and professional expectations for compliant van operators, helping businesses understand what “good” looks like in day-to-day operations.
Richard Smith, MD of the RHA, said many operators were struggling to navigate a complex and fragmented regulatory landscape.
“Van operators are doing more than ever, often with tighter margins and greater scrutiny,” he said.
“We hear consistently that the rules can feel unclear, fragmented and difficult to navigate – especially for operators running mixed fleets or working across borders. The RHA Van Standard is designed to reduce uncertainty and help operators protect their businesses.”
While vans fall outside some of the regulatory frameworks that apply to HGVs, enforcement activity has increased in recent years, particularly around maintenance standards, drivers’ hours compliance and employment practices. This has left many operators unsure where responsibilities begin and end, especially as vans take on a more prominent role in logistics, construction and service sectors.
The RHA says the new standard is intended to close that gap by providing a single reference point that operators can use to review their systems, policies and record-keeping.
The Van Standard forms part of the RHA’s broader support offer for van operators, which includes compliance advice, legal and employment guidance, training services, insurance support and industry representation.
The document is free to download and available to both RHA members and non-members, making it accessible to small businesses and owner-operators as well as larger fleets.
