About Rob Richards,
Independent HGV Auditor

I'm Rob Richards, the founder and lead auditor at UK Fleet Audit.
I've spent over 18 years working inside UK food and FMCG transport — starting as a warehouse operative and working my way up to Transport Manager. That journey has taken me through Hovis, Allied Bakeries (Kingsmill), and Tesco, including running transport compliance at Tesco's Dagenham chilled distribution site — one of Europe's largest, completing around 300 delivery runs a day to over 500 stores.
 
Along the way I've been the DVSA Earned Recognition site champion, led health & safety investigations and risk assessments, and built and trained teams to operate to the highest compliance standards under real commercial pressure — not in theory, but on the warehouse floor and on the road.
 
I hold the Transport Manager CPC qualification and I'm a qualified HGV driver. I still drive today, alongside running UK Fleet Audit, which means every audit I carry out is grounded in what's actually happening in cabs, yards, and depots right now — not just what's written in a policy document.
 

Why I started UK Fleet Audit

Having sat on the operator's side of the table for most of my career — dealing with DVSA, Traffic Commissioners, and the day-to-day reality of keeping a fleet compliant — I've seen the difference up close. The operators who thrive aren't the ones who scrape through a check. They're the ones who built the right systems long before anyone came looking, and never had to think twice when someone did.

I've also seen the other side of it: small, quiet gaps that go unnoticed for months, then surface all at once as a Traffic Commissioner letter or a failed inspection — not because anyone was careless, but because nobody had ever properly tested whether "we've always done it this way" actually held up.

UK Fleet Audit exists to close that gap. We give operators an honest, independent picture of exactly where they stand — not so you can pass an audit, but so you can build the kind of operation that was never worried about one.

Independent, by design

UK Fleet Audit has no ties to any operator, fleet, maintenance provider, or training company. That independence means every audit is a genuine, unbiased assessment of your compliance position — not a sales opportunity dressed up as an audit.

Credentials

• Transport Manager CPC

• ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor

• HGV Class 1 licence holder (active driver)

• Former DVSA Earned Recognition site champion, Tesco Dagenham

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