The provider list is a register, not an endorsement: how to choose
The GOV.UK list of waste tracking software providers has passed fifty names and grows most months. Being on it matters, it means a provider connected to Defra's real service and passed the production approval tests. But the page itself carries a warning worth taking seriously: "Buying software is at your own risk. You are responsible for ensuring that the software can meet the necessary regulatory requirements." A listing is a register, not an endorsement.
Questions that separate the fifty
Does it work with no signal? Most yards have dead spots and the deadline does not care. Ask what happens to a record made offline, and whether it sends itself or waits for somebody to remember.
What does a second user cost? Some products price per user or per driver. A yard where the gate tablet, the office and the owner all sign in can find the advertised price tripled. Ask for the all-in figure for your actual headcount.
What happens when free ends? Several providers are free until the mandate starts. That is the moment switching hurts most, so know the price you will be paying in November before you build your process on the free version in September.
Does it know your trade? A generic tracker records a weight and a waste code. It does not know what an end-of-life vehicle is, what depollution changes, or what else your regulator expects your records to show. If the software speaks your trade, every record needs less typing and fewer decisions at the gate.
Can you get your records out? Whatever you choose first may not be what you run in three years. Ask what an export looks like before you need one.
The honest disclosure
BreakerHQ is on that list, so read this the way you would read any provider's advice, then check the claims yourself. Every one of the questions above is answerable from a provider's public pages or one email, and a provider that dodges them in September will not get more helpful in November.