DVSA examiners have reported that commercial vehicles are issued with 10 times more prohibitions 3 months after their annual MOT, which include prohibitions for issues that could and should have been identified and rectified as a result of a proper driver walk-around check.

It is a requirement for the holder of an operator’s licence to ensure that their vehicles are in a fit and roadworthy condition and if, on inspection, a DVSA Vehicle Examiner takes the view that a vehicle is unfit for service, they may issue that vehicle with a prohibition under section 69 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (“RTA”). This may require that the vehicle be taken out of service immediately pending rectification, or they may issue a delayed prohibition to take effect from a certain point in time. A prohibition can be removed by a DVSA Examiner once that examiner is satisfied that the vehicle is fit for service, which will likely require the completion of prescribed actions.

The DVSA’s ‘Categorisation of vehicle defects’ document is a detailed guide for the type of defect on a vehicle that may attract DVSA attention and possibly a prohibition.

If an operator finds themselves with several prohibitions issued against the vehicles run under their operator’s licence, this should be a wake-up call for that operator and their transport manager (on standard licences) to review their maintenance regime and establish why these prohibitions are being incurred and what more can be done to prevent defects on their vehicles.

An effective maintenance regime is likely to look different for each operator and can vary depending on, for example, the age of their vehicles, the type of terrain the vehicles work on, and/or the type of loads the vehicles carry. However, generally speaking, there are certain components that the DVSA would expect to see if they attended for a maintenance inspection

Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMI)

Operators are required to declare to the Traffic Commissioner the number of weeks that will pass between vehicle maintenance inspection dates. These can range usually from between 4 and 12 weeks, depending on the condition of the vehicles and the mileages covered. The more mileages covered weekly by a vehicle, the shorter the period will probably need to be between PMIs to ensure that the vehicles being put out onto the road remains roadworthy.

When an operator first takes possession of a vehicle, before they put that vehicle out on the road it should undergo a ‘first use’ inspection, which is essentially its first maintenance inspection, to ensure that there are no existing defects on the vehicle from the previous owner before they put it out on to the road.

It is important that vehicle PMIs are planned in accordance with the intervals declared to the Traffic Commissioner, and that they are serviced in the correct week. Persistent delays, or an interval change without notifying the TCs, will likely raise alarm if the DVSA attend to visit.

Where defects are identified at a PMI, the operator will need to work with their maintenance provider and communicate to ensure that the necessary people are made aware of the defect, e.g., the Transport Manager, and to ensure that there is a clear audit trail on how that defect was and/or is to be rectified. PMI sheets and/or other paperwork that make up this trail should be retained in vehicle files.

PMIs should also be accompanied by some form of meaningful brake test, and evidence of those brake test results.

Daily Walkaround Checks

One of the most important aspects of an effective maintenance regime is the daily walkaround check which would ordinarily be completed by the driver before they take the vehicle out on the road. Where drivers hand a vehicle over to another driver, the replacing driver should also, where possible, carry out a walkaround check on the vehicle where health and safety concerns allow them to do so. If they are, for example, at a particularly dangerous site or at a bus stop, maybe this option might not be immediately available.

A walkaround check would ideally require the driver or responsible person to check and account for the whole of a vehicle and/or trailer. Where a driver’s time shows a speedy walkaround check, this could be an indicator of a driver not covering their vehicle in the detail required to ensure that every aspect of the vehicle has no defects.

The driver is legally responsible for the condition of the vehicle they are driving whilst that vehicle is on the road, which is why the walk around check is such an important aspect of maintenance. However, operators should manage their drivers appropriately to ensure that the driver is completing proper walk around checks. This could possible involved paying for and sending drivers on training courses specifically targeted at completing a proper walkaround check. It is also likely to involve regular checks in the yard on drivers completing walkaround checks. For example, a Transport Manager may wait until a driver has completed their walkaround check in the yard, then approach the driver before he departs and carry out their own check to see if there are any defects the driver might have missed. As always, an audit trail of the action taken to manage drivers would ideally be kept.

Drivers themselves, whilst they are completing their checks, should be completing a defect booklet to be kept with a vehicle’s file. This should be completed even if there are no defects found on the vehicle, and the absence of defects would ideally be recorded on the driver sheet accordingly.

Where a driver identifies a defect during their walkaround check, there should be a clear decision-making process to decide whether the defect requires immediate rectification and, if it does, then the DVSA may expect to see evidence of how the rectification work was carried out and recorded.

Conclusion

If the DVSA find themselves issuing multiple prohibitions to vehicles operating under a particular operator’s licence (or even just one serious prohibition), this is likely to trigger a maintenance investigation and DVSA examiners may attend your site to check (1) that your maintenance systems have the usual aspects in place, and (2) that there is an audit trail there to follow and that the necessary paperwork is being used.

If the DVSA completes a maintenance investigation and takes the view that there are failings in an operator’s maintenance regime, they will likely refer that operator to the Traffic Commissioner, who will take a decision on whether to call the operator in to a Public Inquiry for consideration of their operator’s licence. It is therefore important that, if an operator does want to engage legal representation to assist, that operators does engage a lawyer as soon as possible. If they receive the DVSA’s report and it shows identified failings in maintenance and/or an indication that the operator has been referred to the Traffic Commissioner, then it would be wise to speak to a solicitor.

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