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The number's up for trailer registration
Page 20
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The government has rejected an official trailer registration scheme — instead, the Vosa MoT number will be used to track trailers.
Roanna Avison reports.
THE IDEA OFregistering trailers and giving each one a unique number that can then be used to identify it seems like a good one.
At one point,it seemed as though the government would use the EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval Directive as a reason to introduce a trailer registration scheme,as the directive requires member states to register a unique number for vehicles and trailers. However, last week it emerged that it has rejected an official registration programme, citing excessive costs (CM 26 April). Instead, it says. the Vosa MoT number can be used to track trailers over 3.5 tonnes.
Geoff Day, head of engineering policy at the Freight Transport Association, says: "Trailer manufacturers will provide Vosa with the Certificate of Conformity documentation before the trailer leaves the factory/importer, and a unique number will be issued."
For trailers under 3.5 tonnes he predicts a simpler procedure requiring the retailer to keep basic data, possibly for five years. Despite the government not deciding togo ahead with an official scheme, trailer makers seem pleased with the decision to give trailers a unique number before their first MoT.
Trailers tracked
Derek Skinner, technical director at Schmitz Cargobull, says the move will not only help ensure a trailer could be tracked, particularly if it was stolen, but also provide detailed data of the overall market. At the moment, there is no market analysis, so we have no way of knowing how many trailers are sold in the UK and what share of the market we have," he comments. adding: "Registration at the beginning of life means Vosa should be capable of making that data available."
This point was supported by GraemeWilson,MD at WTrailers, who says the data will make it easier for trailer manufacturers to target growth because "we'll all know how big the market is".
Making a number available from the point of registration, rather than at the first MoT, will remove confusion among customers, according to Wilson. "At present, customers do not always understand why they don't get a number for their trailer, when they get registration documents for the tractors," he says.
Wilson adds that the change will also help with trailer security. "We currently put the VIN number on various parts of the trailers, but having a number that can be identified by Vosa will make the whole process much more successful."
However, Simon Morgan, technical sales manager at Cartwright, believes the registration process will make very little difference to customers unless the trailer is stolen."In which case," he explains:it can he tracked." He adds: "It is good that the process appears easy to operate because anything difficult could prove costly to the industry."
Morgan also calls for more communication between the trailer industry and the government so that future legislation takes account of manufacturers' needs.
"At the moment, there seems to be very little input from the industry into government policy — and as the government considers how to implement the type approval legislationit would make sense for us to have a mechanism for communicating our needs," he says.
The Department for Transport says it is working with operators to finalise plans..