What to confirm before you book a trade plate driver

OVM is a Glasgow motor trade office. Our drivers move one roadworthy car or van at a time on trade plates across Scotland, England and Wales, with a valid MOT and digital proof of collection and delivery on every job.

1. The registration. We need the actual registration number rather than a stock number or a description of the car on the front row. Five cars going the same way means five driven jobs or a transporter, as explained in one registration per trade plate booking.

2. Both postcodes and the type of job. Tell us where we collect, where we deliver and what kind of handover it is.

It might be a site transfer between your own branches, a retail handover to a named buyer, a part exchange still on a customer's drive or an auction lot after release.

The plates are the same for all of them, but the notes are not. Two postcodes on their own leave our office guessing, and a stock transfer brief should never end up at a customer's front door. Our dealer delivery page sets out each type of job and vehicle movements explains how we drive them.

3. Roadworthy and legal to drive. The vehicle needs a valid MOT where one is required, it must drive, steer and brake properly, and it needs enough fuel or charge for the first part of the drive.

A car without an MOT cannot go on the road on trade plates, however short the drive. Our guide to moving a car without an MOT on trade plates explains why.

4. Keys, contact and access. Give us a mobile number that will be answered, the name of the person holding the keys and a gate code or yard contact if the vehicle is off the public road.

For a part exchange on a customer's drive, the customer or someone they nominate needs to be there. Read more in part exchange collection on trade plates.

5. Release, if the car is behind a compound gate. The release code or buyer reference must be confirmed with the site, and the yard may need a named collector. We dispatch once both are in place, so storage is not wasted on a driver who cannot collect.

Buying a lot does not give anyone permission to take it. Our guides to auction release codes, the named collector at the auction gate and auction collection cover this in full.

Five cars booked as one trade plate job, an expired MOT on a short drive, an auction lot without a release, a customer who might be home or a switchboard as the only contact will all stop a collection.

Each of these can lead to a failed trade plate collection, so confirm the details before you book.

Include the registration, both postcodes, the date and your company, phone and email. Add a line on the type of job, a named contact at each end, the release details for an auction lot and a note if the vehicle is a van.

Here are some examples of notes that work well:

Sales may have promised the customer a time, prep may hold the keys and accounts may have the purchase order. Our driver needs one of them named as the contact, so there is no confusion on arrival.

Give us a mobile number that will be answered. If sales is handling the customer handover, sales is the contact, and if prep is handling the stock transfer, prep is the contact. A general switchboard number is the quickest way to miss a collection window.

Write fresh notes for every registration rather than copying last week's. An auction collection after release and a delivery to a quiet cul de sac are very different jobs, even though both use trade plates.

With those details ready, use the Instant Quote form on this page or call 0141 459 1302.