FTA issues Earned Recognition update

Keith Gray, general manager of training, audits and standards at the FTA, provided delegates to the organisation’s final Transport Manager Conference of 2018 with some updated information about the DVSA Earned Recognition scheme.

The scheme aims to take the burden of roadside enforcement off compliant operators with exemplary records and compliant systems, by allowing them to submit compliance data to DVSA electronically.

They will then be free to get on with their work uninterrupted, says DVSA, freeing up the agency’s own inspectors to concentrate their efforts on policing less compliant operators.

Earned Recognition was not just for big fleets, said Mr Gray, pointing out that the smallest operator on the scheme was a garden nursery with just three vehicles.

It was not for everyone. An operator could only be considered if it had held an O-licence for at least two years, and had a good track record. There had to be robust systems in process showing compliant data feeds for drivers’ hours checks and vehicle maintenance.

Three months’ worth of data from each had to be provided before an application could be made, and if paper maintenance records were still used by the operator, then these would require a separate independent audit. The audits had to be applied across the whole organisation.

DVSA had appointed 14 audit providers; each of these was in turn audited and had to employ a qualified person with a CPC.

“If you use an agency to provide drivers, then you must have a contract with them, and audit them,” he said.

“But before you do anything else, get hold of the standards and see how you measure up. You need 100 per cent of inspection records present, and 100 per cent of inspections undertaken. You need an annual test pass rate of at least 95 per cent.”

Operators have their reported result measured at four-weekly intervals by their appointed audit provider; the DVSA does not see the records directly.

Mr Gray said that 64 per cent of transport managers surveyed were considering entering the scheme in the next two years. Of the 36 per cent not interested, the main reason given was that there weren’t enough benefits. Others said that company management/directors were not interested, or that they did not know enough about the scheme.

DVSA’s stated benefits for members were that their vehicles were less likely to get stopped for roadside checks, and their premises were less likely to be visited. Recognised operators could use the Earned Recognition on promotional material (but not on vehicles); they had access to a dedicated team at DVSA; and they could use their status as ‘exemplary operators’ when bidding for contracts.

Mr Gray said that the system went beyond DVSA’s red, amber, and green ratings, which were applied to all O-licence holders.

The most difficult thing for operators to organise was a single feed for their maintenance records, when inspections were carried out by more than one workshop.

“This happens when vehicles are on R&M contracts with different providers, for instance. But the digitalisation of maintenance records has made this easier to deal with.”

Since the scheme got underway (it was launched at the Commercial Vehicle Show last year), the task of performing the first acceptance audit had been transferred from DVSA to the operator’s chosen auditor.

While there was no application fee charged, operators did have to fund the cost of audits and the installation of the necessary systems.

Delegates at the conference also were shown a video question-and-answer session, in which DVSA officials answered questions previously raised by respondents to the FTA’s Transport Manager Survey; and Earned Recognition featured.

The DVSA made it clear that Earned Recognition did not mean “we will never stop you.”

A dangerous-looking vehicle would always be stopped.

Earned Recognition did not mean an operator was expected to be perfect, all the time, but DVSA expected to see defects being put right.

“Freed resources would be better targeted at the non-compliant. You don’t have to be on the Earned Recognition scheme to be a compliant operator.”

Meanwhile, on load security: DVSA had been asked to focus on the issue two years ago, and in the North of England vehicles were no longer just getting an external visual check, but inspectors were asking to look inside.

The fight against emissions fraud had now extended beyond looking for external ‘plug-in’ AdBlue emulators. DVSA inspectors could now interrogate vehicles to see if electronics had been interfered with by ‘chipping’ or reprogramming.

Nearly half the survey respondents had experienced difficulties in obtaining vehicle annual test slots in the previous six months. It was admitted that the DVSA was struggling to recruit testers, especially in the South of England, and it had commissioned an independent review of testing.

But different ATF operators wanted different things. Big bus companies who were putting their own fleets through their own ATFs wanted to book all their test slots in one annual booking; independent ATFs wanted to continue with the current system of quarterly bookings.

Consistency in testing was regarded as vital by operators. This was enforced through training, physical checks at ATFs and checks on paperwork.

Operators expecting post-Brexit reform of Driver CPC were likely to be disappointed. There were no immediate plans to change anything.