The DVSA is reminding all commercial operators of the importance of carrying out regular vehicle maintenance and checks, ensuring that roadworthiness is not solely dependent on MOT status.

Data available from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) shows that vehicles are issued 10 times more prohibitions in the 3 months after their annual MOT test than in the first month following the test. This indicates that some vehicles are not being adequately maintained after their MOT.

The DVSA has urged operators to prioritise vital vehicle maintenance and ensure their vehicles are legal and roadworthy all year round. If third-party maintenance providers are being used – then their performance needs to be monitored. Operators cannot just assume they are doing a good job.

Did you know that more than 60% of HGV prohibition defects found at the roadside 3 months after the MOT, could have been reported and fixed before beginning a journey or noticed when driving the vehicle?

That is a staggeringly high number of issues that could, and indeed should, have been avoided – leading to unnecessary and unwanted consequences and financial implications for both the drivers and the operators involved.

This raises an obvious question; with such a high number of defects occurring fully 9 months before the next MOT is due, is there too much reliance on the annual test and not enough emphasis on regular maintenance and inspections?

Why are we seeing these results?

Operators are legally responsible for ensuring vehicles are maintained and used in a roadworthy condition and drivers are legally responsible for the condition of the vehicle they drive, so what is going wrong?

There are multiple possible causes for this unacceptable level of defects that are being found. These would include:

• Insufficient or inadequate training
• Irregular maintenance
• Insufficient time being allocated for repairs
• Consciously ignoring faults and warning lights
• Pressure to meet schedules means risks get taken
• Too much reliance on third party maintenance providers
• Not carrying out daily ‘walk around’ checks

What are the most common defects?

The DVSA publish a table showing the Top 10 prohibition defects for HGVs as a percentage of all vehicles inspected which is updated every quarter. They also publish the same for HGV Trailers, PSVs and Light Goods vehicles.

The most common defects identifies were:

• Condition of tyres
• Direction indicators and hazard warning lamps
• Security of body
• Brake systems and components
• Service brake operation
• Lamps
• Steering mechanism
• Exhaust emissions
• Spray suppression, wings and wheel arches
• Glass / view to front

Not all roadworthiness defects result in immediate prohibition orders. DVSA examiners and authorised constables are given guidance on what actions to take relating to the different defects (or combinations of defects). You can view this DVSA document here.

What does this mean for fleet owners and workshops? And what do commercial vehicle operators need to do to make sure their vehicles are fit for the road?

First and foremost, everyone must understand their responsibilities, acknowledging that both drivers and managers are equally responsible for maintaining the roadworthiness of the vehicles – this is a legal requirement.

3 steps operators can take now to ensure ongoing vehicle compliance:

• Provide relevant training for drivers and managers, so that they can identify, assess and report defects effectively, and are equipped to take appropriate action to ensure the defects are addressed.
• Insist that daily walk-around checks are carried out on every vehicle before every journey without exception, as this is a basic minimum requirement in avoiding defects and roadside prohibitions.
• Remove from service any vehicles affected by serious defects and these must not be reintroduced to the operational fleet until necessary repairs have been completed.

So where does a responsible operator who wants to improve operational performance go to for assistance?

Fortunately, the answer is a simple one – contact Convey! Convey can quickly and effectively help you to successfully address all three of those critical requirements using the Convey Platform – a suite of modules designed specifically to meet the requirements of Driver and Vehicle Compliance and wider fleet management solutions for all HGV, PSV and commercial transport operators, large or small. Everything you will need to optimise your business operations and unlock the following benefits (to list just a few);

• reduce operating costs.
• save huge amounts of time.
• maximise operational efficiencies.
• dramatically increase productivity.
• improve driver retention and employee satisfaction rates.
• drive up business performance.
• increase profitability.

If you want to achieve these benefits for your business, you need to get in contact with us. We would be delighted to hear from you and to start helping your business achieve more. Many thousands of operators already use Convey and are enjoying these rewards now.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join them. Call us today on 01793 676257. We are ready to help you.