VI plans registration scheme for trailers
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by Amanda Bradbury • The Vehicle Inspectorate is considering ways of formally registering trailers for the first time, following pressure from hauliers as commercial vehicle and load theft levels soar to Llbn a year.
One idea understood to be under consideration is for hauliers to contact the VI if a trailer is stolen: details of the trailer would be highlighted on the VI's database until it was recovered. The operator would pay an administration fee of LIO for this service. The VI could then inform the police if a vehicle with the same serial numbers was tested or examined at a later stage.
There is no way at present for the Vito know if a trailer has been stolen by crossreferencing details held on its database.
The information about each trailer can positively identify each trailer but, unlike other types of vehicles, it cannot link a trailer to its legal owner or operator.
The VI database holds: • A chassis or Vehicle Identification Number given by the manufacturer; • Plating details including a DOT ntunber and weights and dimensions of the trailer.
The name and address of the place where the trailer was first tested and of the test applicant is also held by the VI but these details are subject to the Data Protection Act and are not usually cross-referenced with the two serial numbers.
The initiative, part of a review of the VI's information technology, was welcomed by the head of the DOT's freight and road haulage division James Fells, hauliers, police and trailer manufacturers at the Road Haulage Association's TipCon conference last week.
Currently, they say, thieves can easily remove the YIN and plating details from the trailer chassis: usually the serial numbers are attached by rivets though some manufacturers also stamp or burn the number on.
A thief can later apply to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority for documentation under the pretence of losing the original papers issued to the vehicle at its first test.
It is understood that it is possible to obtain documentation simply by quoting a VIN number: the name of the operator does not have to tally with the name of the operator held by the VI.
Duplicate plating certificate and test certificate are often carried on the trailer.
For details of the Commercial Motor Truck Theft Action Pack see page 34.