When a trade plate driver beats a transporter. When it does not

A trade plate driver takes one roadworthy car or van on plates while a transporter is a loaded truck. Use the instant quote when the vehicle can legally be driven. Send the registration and both postcodes. If a transporter is the better call, we will say so rather than take the booking. The office number is 0141 459 1302.

Cost shape is described, not priced. No rate card. No invented pound figure.

Use trade plates when one roadworthy car or van can legally be driven and has to leave without waiting for a deck.

A single unit, or a handful that do not need to travel as one load. One car or van is the usual OVM booking. Several roadworthy vehicles can still move on plates. That means more drivers, not a wait for a truck to fill.

Valid MOT. It can be driven. Trade plates do not make an unroadworthy vehicle legal. If it will not start, will not steer or has no MOT, or if you would not trust the brakes, that is a transporter job.

Dealer, auction or fleet work. Site to site, auction compound to forecourt once release is confirmed, fleet transfer, retail handover. What a driven movement actually is is the product page. When trade plate delivery is the right move is the shorter product page.

You need proof of collection and proof of delivery, not a loading note. Every panel, mileage, condition notes and a signature, against that registration, emailed at handover. That is the record a retail customer, a lease return or a de-fleet argument is decided on.

You will not wait for a full load. A transporter needs enough vehicles going the same way to justify running the truck. A driver does not. If the car has to leave tomorrow morning, plates are the tool that can actually do that.

Use a transporter when the vehicle cannot legally be driven, or when several units travel as one load. OVM will tell you this rather than pretend otherwise.

Non-runner. Will not start, will not move under its own power, needs a winch or a push.

Salvage, a category write-off or an unfinished repair. Stock a compound will not release for a driven exit belongs on a deck. We will not send a driver to fail at the gate.

No valid MOT. No MOT, no driven movement. The same if it is untaxed when tax is required, or not legal for the public highway.

Multiple units the same way, flexible timing. For five or more on one route, a transporter is usually cheaper per vehicle because the truck is shared. If one of them is needed tomorrow, or any one of them is going to a customer's door, that unit is not a transporter job.

Height or weight a driver cannot take. If it cannot legally be driven, or a driven exit is not legal, it needs a loaded move. A high-roof van that is legal to drive can still go on plates. We quote the route it can actually take. Send the registration if you are unsure.

Auction storage keeps running until the vehicle leaves. Waiting for a truck to fill a deck does not pause that clock. Buying the car is not the same as being allowed to take it. The site issues a release code or buyer reference.

For a single released, roadworthy car, a driver can go once the paperwork is actually confirmed. That is usually the cheaper total, because you pay for a movement rather than another day of compound storage while a truck waits for a viable load. Auction collection after release is how OVM runs that job. We do not dispatch on a hope.

For stock that cannot legally be driven out, there is no decision. It is a transporter. A driven attempt the gate will refuse costs you the wasted journey and the storage that kept running.

For several lots going the same way, add the storage. If the truck can collect them together before charges bite, the deck can still win. If extra days in the compound cost more than you save by waiting, use plates on the roadworthy units and a transporter for the rest. OVM will take the driven part and refuse the rest.

We confirm the release with the compound before a driver is sent. If the code has not come through, we hold the booking.

OVM refuses salvage, non-runners and anything that cannot legally be driven. We will not pretend to be a transporter, a low-loader or a recovery operator.

If the vehicle on site is not as described, the driver calls the office before the wheels turn.

A driven movement produces a condition record because one person has the vehicle from collection to handover. Every panel is photographed before the engine starts, the mileage is recorded, keys and documents are checked and a signature is captured at the far end. You get digital proof of collection and delivery. Mileage added is recorded against that registration, not glossed over.

A transported vehicle is typically loaded with a brief note and more than one pair of hands. Fine for bulk stock. A poor record for a retail handover, a lease return or a de-fleet dispute.

Insurance on an OVM job is our motor trade policy. It gives full road risk cover while the vehicle is driven under our trade plates. That cover is for the driven product, not a reason to put an unroadworthy car on plates.

The quote is how you choose plates or a truck for that registration. Send the registration, both postcodes, roughly when it needs to move and whether every vehicle is roadworthy. Named contacts at both ends stop a wasted journey. The Instant Quote shows the price on screen.

What actually sets a trade plate delivery price is the driven route, the vehicle, wait or release and same-day versus planned. There is no rate card. Fuel is charged separately. A vehicle that is not roadworthy cannot be quoted as a driven job.

Integrators can read services, coverage and quote fields from the OVM API documentation. That API is discovery, not a booking API.