The DVSA and the Office of the Traffic Commissioner plan to introduce two new functions to their Vehicle Operator Licensing system later this year.
They plan to allow operators to renew their O-licence online. O-licences have to be continued every five years, and sometimes hauliers fail to return their paperwork or forget to pay the renewal fee.
They also plan to make the service more secure by using the gov.uk Verify system, which allows operators to sign their applications digitally. A government-certified company will check the signatory's identity online.
The DVSA claimed that the average waiting time for an O-licence application to be processed reduced from nine to seven weeks wihin three months of the system going live last autumn.
Since then, more than 3,600 goods and PSV applications have been made; in excess of 40,000 licence changes have been made; and 200,000 vehicle changes have been processed.
