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VOSA must plan route to foreign HGV compliance

27th August 2009
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Page 6, 27th August 2009 — VOSA must plan route to foreign HGV compliance
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By Christopher Walton VOSA AND THE government must ind ways to improve enforcement and compliance among foreign registered HGVs, according to the indings of a Transport Select Committee report into the activities of the agency.

The report, published this week, also recommends that VOSA has more access to British ports in order to inspect foreignand UK-registered HGVs found to be louting road safety laws.

According to VOSA, 46.5% of foreign vehicles and trailers stopped in 2007-08 were found to have dangerous defects, compared with 37.5% for UK vehicles. Prohibition rates were also signiicantly higher among foreign-registered vehicles for tachograph offences and overloading.

“It is crucial that VOSA has access to suficient resources to continue to improve the standard of HGVs on our roads,” the report states. “This can only be achieved via investment in technology and service improvements.” However, the report does add that improvement in enforcement activities will come from better legislation and collaboration with other government agencies and private port operators, rather than just a simple increase in funding. Since evidence for the report was heard, VOSA has begun looking at partnerships with the British Port Association (BPA) and port authorities in order to develop working agreements for access to ports across the country.

David Whitehead, director of the BPA, says “a lot of progress” has already been made in getting to the point where VOSA can inspect foreign vehicles at ports.

“We would prefer that VOSA has individual agreements with ports,” declares Whitehead. “There is an issue of competition in ports, so allowing VOSA to go into every single port means that inspections have to be done consistently.” The recommendations of the Transport Select Committee have been roundly welcomed by the industry trade associations, who have urged the port authorities to open their gates to allow VOSA inspections.

James Hookham, director of policy at the Freight Transport Association, says: “Any port in this country should not be a no-go area for enforcement, and we cannot have any safe havens for illegal trucks. We can embarrass the ports into thinking that a commercial argument for keeping VOSA out is not a responsible way of keeping the public safe.”


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