ASG Recovery and Transport Ltd came to DVSA’s attention following a roadside check on the M5 in Exeter on 17 September 2025. According to the agency, the company was transporting vehicles, including cars being taken to auctions, but did not hold the required operator’s licence.
The crucial point was that the vehicles being carried were in working order. DVSA therefore did not regard the journeys as recovery operations.
Further enquiries linked three vehicles and two drivers, excluding the company’s sole director, to the business. The director was invited to attend an interview twice but did not appear.
On 28 October 2025, the director told DVSA that the company had stopped trading. However, on 6 January 2026, another vehicle operating on behalf of ASG Recovery and Transport Ltd was stopped and was again found to be carrying out transport work without an operator’s licence.
The case eventually reached Swindon Magistrates’ Court. The company pleaded not guilty on 26 February 2026, with the proceedings adjourned until 21 May.
ASG Recovery and Transport Ltd was subsequently found guilty of operating without an operator’s licence and fined £15,000. It was also ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £1,620 in costs, bringing the total bill to £18,620.
No separate penalty was imposed for operating without a goods vehicle test certificate.
When does recovery become haulage?
The case is particularly relevant to recovery operators because the exemption from operator licensing does not apply simply because a vehicle is designed or equipped for recovery work.
Under DVSA guidance, recovery vehicles can qualify for an exemption when they are being used to recover vehicles that have genuinely broken down or become disabled.
However, transporting a roadworthy vehicle from one location to another can amount to ordinary haulage and therefore require an operator’s licence.
DVSA gives the example of a recovery vehicle carrying a non-disabled car from one garage forecourt to another. That journey is considered haulage rather than recovery.
The same applies when a repaired vehicle is returned to a customer. Official operator-licensing guidance says this is not classed as recovery and can require a standard operator’s licence.
Importantly, operators cannot rely on the exemption simply because haulage work is occasional. DVSA guidance warns that an operator’s licence may still be required even where vehicles are transported outside the recovery definition for only a short period or on a single day.
In the ASG case, DVSA said the vehicles being moved to auctions were in working order, meaning they did not fall within the definition of a recovery operation.
Company had previously worked as a vehicle transporter
ASG Recovery and Transport Ltd was incorporated in 2016 and previously traded as ASG Transport (Kent) Ltd.
Publicly available company information lists its business activity as freight transport by road, while a January 2025 list of Copart-approved sub-hauliers names “ASG Recovery and Transport Ltd t/a Redline Recovery”.
There is no suggestion that Copart was connected to the offences prosecuted by DVSA.
The company had also been the subject of a winding-up petition earlier in 2025, filed by Unit Hire Limited. The petition was due to be heard in June that year. No evidence has been identified showing that a winding-up order was subsequently made.
For recovery operators, the case serves as a reminder that the legal status of a journey depends not simply on the truck being used, but on why the vehicle is being carried and whether it genuinely needs recovering.
As DVSA put it following the prosecution, operators must have the correct licence in place before carrying out haulage work.
