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MoT issues free guide to plating
Page 44
Page 45
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• As forecast in CM May 24, the Ministry of Transport has now issued a pamphlet to guide goods vehicle operators on the requirements and procedures for plating and testing under the Road Safety Act 1967. The testing and plating examinations will start in England and Wales on October 1, and booking applications will be accepted from August 1; in Scotland the testing will start on December 1.
The booklet, which is free, explains the regulations, the method of application for a test and the way in which testing and plating will be undertaken. It provides addresses and telephone numbers of the 77 testing stations, lists the dates on which the classes of vehicle and trailer are due to be examined and details the types which are exempted from the scheme.
An important section explains the alterations to plated vehicles which must be notified to the Ministry of Transport, under a code which was explained in CM on May 24.
Entitled "Plating and testing of goods vehicles—guide for vehicle operators", the booklet is available through trade association representing operators, manufacturers and repairers. Individual copies are obtainable through the post from the Ministry of Transport Goods Vehicle Centre, Welcombe House, 91-92 The Strand, Swansea; from June 10 copies will also be available over the counter from goods vehicle testing stations already open, Ministry of Transport traffic area offices and from the offices of the RHA and TRTA.
Ministry testing stations already open are: Ipswich, Norwich, Liverpool (Simonswood). Preston (Kirkham) and Peterborough.
The booklet stresses that, except in special circumstances, it will be an offence to use a vehicle on the road without plating certificate and valid goods vehicle test certificate after the date on which it is due to have been examined. This could happen, quite apart from deliberate avoidance or ignorance of the requirements, in the case of a vehicle which has been laid up, perhaps waiting for spares. If a vehicle has not been submitted for examination by the date shown for its class, the operator must get it examined, by appointment through the Goods Vehicle Centre, before using it on the road.
Applications on the appropriate form must be made to the Goods Vehicle Centre, Swansea. at least one month before the date on which the applicant wants the vehicle examined, but operators are urged to complete Part II of the application form (giving particulars of the vehicle and its equipment) well before the listed first date by which the application for a first examination of the vehicle could normally be accepted. This can be done, says the Ministry, without enclosing a testing fee and without incurring any obligation to have the vehicle tested: but it does enable details to be checked and queries to be resolved well before the full application, on Part I of the form, accompanied by a test fee.
The Ministry will accept block bookings, not less than one month in advance of the first appointment sought, for vehicles appearing in the Standard Lists which are due for test by the same date, have the same test fee and are to be made available at a single, named testing station. There are special arrangements for the testing of trailers at short notice.
The booklet gives detailed advice about the actual submission of vehicles, and emphasizes that it is wise to send a driver with mechanical knowledge or have him accompanied by a mechanic.