Custody discipline: the low-cost fix for vehicle transport disputes

Ask any operator what has changed in the last year and you will hear the same gripe. Planning has less slack because the labour pool is tighter and the knock-on effects show up where it hurts most – in the messy reality of yards, compounds and handovers.

The numbers back it up. Logistics UK recorded 293,714 active HGV drivers at the start of 2025, down 1.9% on 2024, driven mainly by a 4.5% fall in UK-born drivers. Vacancy headlines have softened since the worst of the Covid-era crunch, but a shrinking pool still squeezes schedules.

When everything is running hot, small errors become more likely and harder to contain.

For vehicle transport operators, this pressure is especially acute. The biggest losses for transporters carrying vehicles of all types – from family hatchbacks to high-performance supercars – are rarely the result of motorway drama.

More often, they start at low speed. A rushed loading slot, a tight reverse, a late change to the run, a driver finishing a shift tired and a yard that was never designed for today’s volume. These are the conditions during which a routine movement culminates into an unsightly dent.

But the real problem is that physical damage is often only the beginning. What starts as a small scrape that requires only a quick repair job can quickly escalate into a hot-headed dispute, with costs climbing long after the vehicle has stopped moving.

That’s because when custody is unclear, paperwork is messy or handovers are inconsistent, arguments shift from what needs fixing to who had the keys, who signed for what and whether the vehicle was in transit or sitting in limbo.

This is the point at which costs inflate. Not because anyone is acting in bad faith, but because the evidence is thin. In a multi-party movement with one operator, two drivers, a subcontractor, a collection point and a delivery site, even basic questions can become contested.

What time was the vehicle checked? Was the damage pre-existing? Was a condition report completed? Was the vehicle left in a secure area? Who held the keys? If those points are not recorded clearly, disputes can snowball.

There is a wider commercial risk here, too. Accidents are part of the job – insurers expect that – but uncertainty is expensive. Disputes take time, tie up resource and allow costs to escalate, especially when the paper trail is thin.

Over time, that uncertainty feeds through into pricing and terms, and can reduce the appetite of markets to support the sector.

The good news is that operators can reduce this risk without waiting for a fully-fuelled labour market. The answer is custody discipline. Simple, consistent controls that make handovers boring, repeatable and defensible.

Five practical steps that can make a real difference:

• First, every movement should meet the same minimum standard of evidence, regardless of who is driving. That should include a condition check, photo set, location and timestamp, key log and a clear signature trail.
• Second, tighten the moment of transfer. The handover should be treated as a control point, not an admin afterthought. If the yard is busy, build in a two-minute pause for the basics rather than relying on memory later.
• Third, make condition reporting usable. Long forms that never get completed create a false sense of control. Keep it short. A tick list of key damage points plus a clear photo routine beats a perfect document that only gets filled in at the last minute.
• Fourth, hold subcontractors to the same standard. This is where gaps often appear. If you are relying on third parties, they need to follow the same handover expectations, the same photo requirements and the same rule on who can accept custody.
• Finally, train for the reality of the job. Under time pressure, people can and will cut corners. Training should focus on the moments that go wrong, tight manoeuvres, rushed loading and the handover process itself. Operators should also empower staff to pause a movement if there’s even a sneaking suspicion that the paperwork might not right.

None of this eliminates incidents. What it does is stop a minor knock turning into a major dispute. It reduces ambiguity, it speeds up resolution and it helps keep costs proportionate.

In a market where driver availability is still a constraint, operators who treat custody and handover discipline as core controls will be the ones who stay insurable on workable terms.

David Heeney, freight liability underwriter, risk and insurance expert, Fiducia MGA