NEW GUIDE TO MAINTAINING ROADWORTHINESS

15/03/2010

VOSA's Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness is the HGV and PSV operator's bible. It contains most of the things you need to know as an operator.

The DFT has just released a proposed new edition of the Guide which is likely to be published shortly. Whilst much of the Guide remains the same, some sections such as Section 6 on 'Monitoring' have been updated.

Generally there appears to be more reference to the acceptability of electronic vehicle maintenance management and storage systems. In Section 5 regarding 'Safety Inspection and Repair Facilities' it is confirmed that computer-based systems for forward planning are just as acceptable as the standard wall chart method. The Guide states that the information should be kept in the simplest form possible and displayed prominently. This will serve as a reminder of programme inspections or of any changes that have been necessary.

The biggest additions to the Guide are in Section 6 regarding 'Monitoring of the Quality of Safety Inspections'. There is now a specific section on 'Annual Testing' and operators are now explicitly encouraged to request the annual test certificate of each of their vehicles and to keep them safe. They are also encouraged to ask for copies of the Smoke Test Report and the Brake Test Report.

The section also informs operators that if faults are found which are minor they may have the opportunity of repairing those faults at the test centre. However, the Guide does not explain to operators the fact that minor defects which can be rectified there and then will still count against them when their First Time Pass Rate is calculated.

Many operators appear to be unaware of their vehicles' Annual Test Pass Rate. This is particularly common if they have their maintenance contracted out and those maintenance providers present their vehicles for test on their behalf. Hopefully the extra section in this Guide will encourage operators to ensure they obtain a copy of the test card and to encourage them to take action against any maintenance providers who they believe are not giving the vehicle a full pre-MOT inspection and are instead relying on the test centre to pick up the faults with the vehicle.

This is very important as the Annual Test Rate is used to calculate an operator's Operator Compliance Risk Score. The worse the operator's score, the more likely they will be specifically targeted at roadside checks and other VOSA encounters.

The new Guide also refers to the Safe Operator's Guide which again is a fairly recent publication.

The Guide is largely unchanged and with the few additions remains a very useful source for any operators or would-be operators.

In reality how many operators actually pick the Guide up on a regular basis and familiarise themselves with its sections is another matter.

For more information, please contact Lucy Wood or Anton Balkitis on 0800 124 4012.