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On 1 April the Vehicle Inspectorate will undergo the first of a number of changes when it joins forces with the Traffic Examiners. Colin Sowman visited the VI's Bristol headquarters to find out what this will mean to operators.
The Vehicle Inspectorate and Traffic Examiners have been working separately to catch -cowboy" operators. But all this will change on 1 April when the two parties join forces.
In practice terms the VI will have access to records of overloading and drivers' hours offences, prohibitions, annual plating, fleet and maintenance checks.
Thi; adds up to a huge amount of information which the VI's director of customer liaison and business development, Hugh Edwards, admits is badly stored.
But this will change in October when the VI's new database comes on stream. Edwards says that it will enable the Vi to target operators who do not maintain their vehicles properly. Leaving those with a good record to go about their business unhindered by routine fleet and maintenance facility checks.
Once the database is up and running it will ta: E A full maintenance history of each operator with results of tests and inspections over a six-year period. 0 Automatic reporting of uncleared prohibitions after six weeks. 0 Reasons for prohibitions, including the location and safety significance of all defect. 0 An alert system to highlight prohibitions over a certain threshold. 0 An enquiry facility for the VI and other enforcement agencies. In 1989/90 the VI carried out 1.16 million tests for re-tests) on HGVs, PSVs and trailers. During the same period 27,500 vehicles were spot checked on the road, almost 62,000 were inspected at their operating base and more than 35,400 maintenance appraisals were carried out. At present only records of prohibitions, vehicles failing their test and problems with maintenance arrangements are kept. This means that all the information on record is negative. There is nothing to differentiate between the good operator with the occasional problem from those who make no attempt to keep their vehicles up to standard, says Edwards. Complete record A complete record of an operator will be built up from the results of roadside main tenance and weight checks, annual testing, police reports and fleet/maintenance examinations. All these entries will be by vehicle registration number and a link to Traffic Area Offices will cross reference the vehicle to the operator. At set intervals an enforcement computer program will highlight those operators whose maintenance record falls outside preset parameters. This program deals only with high level information such as test results, delayed and immediate prohibitions. Probability equations will be used so that an operator with 150 vehicles who picks up a couple of delayed prohibitions will not show up as a bad maintainer. But if he only has two vehicles and each has received a prohibition notice within a few months of each other then his record will be investigated. Those operators that are highlighted by the computer will have their records looked at in detail by VI district managers, who will particularly watch for entries covering neglect. This should not be a surprise to the operator as he would have received a letter from the VI expressing concern about the state of the vehicle. Edwards is aware that a vehicle may have failed its test because a bulb had blown while on the way to the testing station. The computer record would show that and there would not be a problem, but if it showed that signs of neglect had been noted in the past then action would be taken. A delayed prohibition that remains uncleared after six weeks or a vehicle at annual inspection showing serious signs of neglect would trigger an immediate investigation. By using the computer to target operators with poor maintenance the VI can change its own operating procedure. In future, the condition of the vehicle will be taken as proof of maintenance, so removing the need for up to half of the maintenance facility checks. A new operator's maintenance arrangements will be inspected a few months after the licence is granted, not before as happens now. When an operator's 0-licence has to be renewed there should be sufficient information on file to satisfy the authorities without the need for a visit. From the VI's point of view fleet and maintenance facilities checks are not efficient with only 4.9% of the trucks inspected being issued with prohibition notices, compared with 16.5% at roadside checks. "We want to move to spot checks on the roadside to target the ropey vehicles and catch the cowboys," says Edwards. Fleet and maintenance facility checks will still be carried out when an operator is under investigation. The manpower freed from carrying out routine maintenance facility and fleet checks will be redeployed to roadside checks; Edwards estimates being able to inspect an extra 20,000 vehicles a year. Many of these roadside checks will be carried out in urban areas, another new tactic. Operators normally put their younger vehicles on long-distance trunking work; so when the VI inspects vehicles on the main trunk roads it is usually looking at the best of the fleet, says Edwards. In a recent exercise the VI checked light commercials (under 3.5 tonnes) in urban areas and between 30 and 40% of them were served with prohibitions. Each district will have a target of urban spot checks. The VI cannot stop vehicles, the police must do that, but if the truck has already stopped, even at a traffic light, then it can be inspected without the police being present. The aim is to target more rough vehicles using the same, or in some cases less, manpower. Spot-check About 10% of the spot-check budget will be kept for targeting areas showing increased rates of prohibitions. Edwards sees all these moves as generating more meaningful information for the database which in turn will help fine tune the wayward operator targeting. Under the provisions of the Data Protection Act, it is a statutory right for operators, paying an as yet unspecified fee, to see what the VI has on record about them and to have any errors corrected. There will be more than 90 points of access to the computer at test stations, district and enforcement offices around the UK. On the negative side, is the fact that some people are prepared to operate outside the 0-licensing system. Operators who try to maintain their vehicles up to a proper standard, but fail, will receive help and encouragement. Those who choose not to bother and are prepared to function outside the law should at least become known to the Inspectorate before they disappear from the 0-licensing system.