DVSA roadside inspections can cost you big time

I was talking to one of our newer clients this week and he was complaining about DVSA (no surprise there). His business is general
haulage and some of his contracts are very strict on delivery times.

One of his drivers was heading to a drop at a very strict client with over 20 minutes to spare when less than 5 minutes round the corner he was pulled over for a DVSA roadside inspection which caused him to miss the time slot.

Needless to say the owner was furious as he not only had to rearrange the delivery for the next day at his own cost but it also went down as a black mark on the contract with his customer.

It is a sad state of affairs when a roadside inspection causes damage to your business. For this particular client that contract is quite a large part of their business so it could have caused very big problems.

There is however some legislation within the Road Traffic Act 1988 that allows you to defer a roadside check relating to construction and use. In section 67 it mentions how you can defer a DVSA check to a more convenient time for you.

Here’s how to defer a VOSA inspection

Assuming that it is not immediately identifiable that your vehicle is defective, the driver is in breach of the laws or an accident has occurred then the owner of that vehicle can choose a period of 7 days within the next 30 days for DVSA to carry out their inspection.

If the driver does not own the vehicle then they can simply contact the owner to arrange these dates.

You don’t need to have the vehicle off the road for the full 7 days just offer a 7 day window for DVSA to carry out the checks. DVSA then need to give you at least 2 days notice before arriving on site or meeting at a mutually agreed location to carry out the inspection.

If you want more information on this you can find it at the government legislation website link below.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/contents

 

As legislation is often very open to interpretation please remember this only relates to a stop under the construction and use (roadworthiness) of the vehicle and other checks such as driver licence, O-licence, tachographs etc would fall under section 68 which can not be deferred. If you need any further information on this please do not hesitate to contact us.

I hope this helps you avoid missing any drops in the future.