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Off to a good start

30th September 2004
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The first annual report since the formation of VOSA contains some

positive trends — but the agency is far from complacent about the number of HGVs failing their annual tests. David Craik reports.

The first VOSA effectiveness report has been published since its creation through the merger of the Traflic Area Network and the Vehicle Inspectorate on 1 April 2003, with the expanded organisation claiming that "it is performing well against [its] targets".

It's been a busy 12 months, with the development of the first phase of on-line services enabling operators to access and amend their licence details, and the pilot of the Power To Stop scheme. But it is, as ever, the HGV testing and prohibitions statistics which attract the closest scrutiny.

In 2003/2004 initial HGV test failures fell from 42.5% to 40.8%, equating to 191,000 of the 467,640 vehicles presented. The re-test fail rate also fell, from 12.7% to 11.8%.

As the VOSA report puts it: "Although welcome, this still means that one in eight vehicles fails twice."

More failures Following the advent of more comprehensive checks in February 2003 the initial fail rate for speed limiter checks increased to 3.1% in 2003/04. However headlamp aim remained the biggest single reason for initial test failures, despite a slight fall from 20.1% to 19.3%. VOSA has been investigating this phenome non but so far has failed to come to any firm conclusion. But it did establish that headlamp aim test failures were not minor — in most cases the vehicle could not have stopped within the distance illuminated.

The report adds: "We remain convinced that operators and presenters could do more to improve test pass rates. The fail rate for voluntary checks of headlamp aim, for example, suggests there is scope, when operators and presenters prepare their vehicles for test, for considerable improvement in the initial pass rates."

Equally worrying is the high level of initial test failures caused by braking faults — almost 25% of vehicles fail because of these safetycritical problems (see graph).

Older vehicles Continuing the tradition of previous years there was a marked increase in prohibitions for vehicles aged eight years or over. VOSA reported a prohibition rate of 15.1% for vehicles aged 6-7 years compared with 20.3% for vehicles aged 8-9 years in 2003/04. "This suggests that operators are struggling to maintain the roadworthiness of older vehicles between tests," the report notes.

The composition of the industry has changed little, with road haulage remaining a fairly fragmented industry. More than 50% of licences are issued to one-vehicle owner-drivers; they account for 12% of the vehicle pare. At the other extreme, operators with more than 100 vehicles account for 0.4% of licences and about 13% of the pare.

The report notes that the larger the fleet, the better prepared the trucks: "This probably reflects larger operators' ability to invest in newer vehicles and to ensure more sophisticated and comprehensive maintenance facilities. But even this is only relative; operators with fleets in excess of 100 vehicles still have almost one vehicle in three initially fail the annual test," (see graph).

The proportion of trailer initial test failures fell from 28.50/ to 26.7% in 2003/04. One in six trailers which failed the initial test subsequently failed a re-test; the main reasons for test failure were service and parking brake performance (see graph).

VOSA claims that its target of just under 0.19% for HGV test errors has been met since 1 April last year with an actual rate of 0.10%. However this figure was unchanged from 2002/03.A target of an HGV test cycle time of 90 minutes for 90% of vehicles has been surpassed with a figure of 98.1%. However, test stations issued more prohibitions to vehicles presented for annual test ma dangerous or very badly prepared state.

VOSA says it is pleased that 97.2% of tests were provided within 18 days compared with 87.8% in 2002/03 (see graph). The Scottish region fared best in this area, achieving a 100% score for the third year running. The report reveals that this figure was aided by inspectors -working extra hours outside core times" and the "recruitment of 18 vehicle inspectors from Germany to help out in areas which are finding it hard to recruit"—mainly in the South-East and the Midlands.

Spot checks

Regarding enforcement, VOSA reports an increase by 8.2% in the number of HGVs spot checked at operators' premises and at the roadside. Of those checked 2.8% had at least one offence reported for prosecution compared with 3.6% in 2002/03. The most prominent problems were hours, tachographs and illegal operation. The number of vehicle and trailer fleet checks increased by a further 7.8% (2,059 checks) in 2003/04, while the number of prohibitions fell by 6.0% (143 prohibitions), which meant that the prohibition rate decreased from 8.9% in 2002/03 to 7.8% in 2003/04. Enforcement Area-generated targeted checks accounted for just over 36% of all fleet checks, and also had the highest prohibition rate at 10.2%.

The report notes: "This more targeted approach is reflected in an increase in the percentage incidence of unsatisfactory maintenance assessments, which have risen from 25.7% of all maintenance assessments in 2000/ 01 to 44.2% in 2003/04."

The spot-check prohibition rate was 22.2%, compared with the 28% recorded for foreign HGVs. The number of cases referred to Traffic Commissioners fell by 56.5%, but where cases were referred the number of 0-licence revocations rose from 20.3% to 33.3%.

In other areas VOSA reports that a number of its examiners have received "extensive vehicle post-collision investigation training" from the police, which should improve "the way evidence is collated and presented" after an accident. This move was also propelled by a police policy of moving resources away from accident investigation to other work.

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