Nearly one in three foreign trucks unroadworthy

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Wednesday 12 June 2013

Foreign trucks entering the UK are more likely to be overweight or have mechanical faults than British-registered vehicles, but their drivers are less likely to be in breach of drivers’ hours laws, according to VOSA’s effectiveness report for 2011-12.

Last year (2011-12), VOSA carried out just over 42,000 mechanical checks on British-registered trucks at the roadside and on operators’ premises, and issued nearly 12,000 prohibitions, giving a prohibition rate of almost 24.5 per cent.

In contrast, the previous year (2010-11) saw it undertake nearly 47,500 mechanical inspections of British-registered trucks and find fault with just under 12,500 of them: a prohibition rate of just over 26 per cent, which was down again from over 27 per cent the previous year.

That a smaller number of checks on British vehicles are yielding a greater percentage of prohibitions appears to indicate that VOSA’s policy of targeted enforcement is proving effective in selecting trucks that are likely to be unroadworthy for inspection.

Just over 44,500 UK drivers were checked for hours offences: an increase of about 500 over the previous year. Nearly 8,800 prohibitions were issued, giving a prohibition rate of just under 20 per cent, compared to a prohibition rate of just over 16 per cent the previous year.

The number of weight checks carried out on British vehicles increased from 2,530 to 3,239, and uncovered a greater proportion of offenders, with the prohibition rate rising from 58 per cent to over 60 per cent.

A rise in hours and weight offences perhaps indicates the economic pressure that British operators are under. They are carrying more goods in fewer vehicles, with the inevitable result that on occasion too much is packed onto trucks and drivers go over their hours. On the other hand though, they are keeping an increasingly ageing and hard-working fleet of trucks in better mechanical condition, which is also reflected in the pass rate at annual test.

VOSA carried out just over 37,700 mechanical checks on foreign trucks, and these attracted a prohibition rate of 31.6 per cent; the previous year VOSA had checked over 48,000 foreign trucks and prohibited just over 29 per cent of them.

There was increased scrutiny of drivers’ hours on foreign trucks. The number of checks increased from 51,426 to 55,922, with the prohibition rate rising from 16 per cent to 19.2 per cent, indicating a marked rise in lawbreaking.

More foreign trucks were weighed, too. Over 2,900 were put over VOSA weighbridges, with more than 62 per cent being found overweight. The previous year, VOSA weighed 2,262 foreign trucks and just over 57 per cent were overweight.

When it comes to trailers, British operators take better care of their rolling stock than do foreign hauliers coming to Britain, according to VOSA’s statistics. Under 30 per cent of British trailers inspected were defective, compared to nearly 42 per cent of foreign ones.

Turning to buses and coaches, British-registered vehicles attracted a prohibition rate of nearly 22 per cent for mechanical faults (foreign coaches’ rate was almost three times higher, at 63.5 per cent).

Hours checks on British PCVs yielded a prohibition rate of 13.5 per cent (46.5 per cent on foreign coaches), and 44 per cent of British coaches weighed were overweight compared to nearly 77 per cent of foreign ones. This last statistic must be interpreted with extreme caution, however: very small numbers of PCVs are weighed because most run well under-weight. Overloading is normally only an issue for coach operators engaged in long-haul holidays or specialist shopping trips.

Whilst contrasts can be made between British and foreign operators, and the freight and passenger transport sectors, the reality is that all are paragons of virtue when compared to the operators of vans and cars (which VOSA lumps together as LGVs in its effectiveness report). This is also one class in which British-registered vehicles are worse offenders than foreigners.

The mechanical prohibition rate for British LGVs is over 62 per cent, and for foreign just a bit better at 57 per cent. Hours offences were being committed by nearly 29 per cent of British LGV drivers checked (17 per cent for foreigners).

Worst of all though was the overloading situation. A staggering 87 per cent of British-registered LGVs were found to be overweight (62 per cent for foreign vehicles).

Unsurprisingly, given both these statistics and the news that the MoT test failure rate for vans and light trucks is still at an alarming 50 per cent, VOSA will increase its focus on this sector in the future.