About mytruckdetails™

Operator (O) Licence - Vehicle maintenance requirements

Effective maintenance is one of the prime objectives of the operator licensing system. An operator must satisfy the Licensing Authority that there are acceptable arrangements for maintaining vehicles in a fit and serviceable condition and that these arrangements will not be prejudiced by lack of financial resources. A suitable maintenance plan must include daily checks of the condition of the vehicle and safety inspections at regular intervals. These must be supported by proper procedures for dealing effectively with faults.

The adequacy of any system will be dictated by the type of vehicles and their ages, the work and the intensity of operations. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness', (download) written jointly by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association and Confederation of Passenger Transport, provides clear advice to Operators to meet maintenance requirements of O-licensing. Operators may depart from the Guide's recommendations but will need to convince the Licensing Authority that there is no reduction in standards.

Daily Walkround checks should normally be carried out by the driver before starting a journey, but may be done by other personnel, such checks do not remove the driver's responsibilities for the vehicle's condition when on the road. Checks should embrace engine, brakes, tyres and wheels, lights and reflectors, warning devices, windscreen wipers and washers, mirrors and trailer couplings.

The driver should be able to make prompt reports of faults that might adversely affect safe operation. Reports should be recorded in writing by the driver or by someone with responsibility for vehicle condition. There must be procedures for carrying out remedial action and recording it. Freight Transport Association (FTA) produces driver report books to meet this requirement.

Periodic safety inspections should cover items affecting vehicle safety and be based on the "VOSA HGV inspection manual". Inspections should be made at intervals of time/or mileage. The nature of the business and the type of vehicles will determine the proper intervals.

Staff making safety inspections must be aware of acceptable performance standards, and be able to recognise faults and assess their significance. They must be familiar with permitted limits of wear and tolerance for components and be able to advise on serviceability.

Documented records for each vehicle must be kept for at least 15 months and should record all safety inspections and driver's defect reports together with details of remedial work. When the vehicle is sold or disposed of the records should still be kept.

The Vehicle Operator is responsible for the maintenance of the records even if the work is done by outside agents.

The number of maintenance facilities required will depend upon the size and type of vehicles and the range or work. It must be possible to properly inspect the vehicles. Ramps, hoists or pits will usually be needed but are not always necessary if the vehicles have sufficient ground clearance.

Equipment for measuring brake efficiency and headlight settings is not essential although it is obviously an advantage.

The safe condition of vehicles and trailers is the direct responsibility of the Vehicle Operator.

What is it?

‘O’ licensing requires that:

“There must be a system of reporting and recording faults that may effect the roadworthiness of the vehicle,” and, “must be kept, together with details of the remedial action taken, for at least 15 months.”

This can be a time consuming and costly activity for the operator who must file and distribute hard copy records, which are also difficult to access to provide necessary operational management information.

The VOSA “Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness” allows for, “Electronic capture and storage on computer” but also requires, “the capability of producing hard-copy information for use at public enquiries held by Traffic Commissioners.”

mytruckdetails™   is a new, cost saving, web facility to record and access information collected as part of the ‘Daily Walkround’ and ‘Planned Safety Inspections’ as prescribed in the VOSA “Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness”.

What does it do?

mytruckdetails™   provides a simple method of recording information in accordance to the recommended templates featured in the Guide, and storing the information electronically to provide a valuable management information facility available to authorised personnel from any remote location. It integrates all the information received regarding defects and the actions taken to provide a powerful service history of individual vehicles and the fleet in total, which may be enhanced to include additional equipment fitted to the vehicle with reminders of inspections and recalibrations to be undertaken in the timely maintenance of the vehicle:

• Simple recording ‘O’ Licence data to VOSA’s Code of Practice
• Daily Walkround and Planned Safety inspection cycles stored centrally
• No need to store and distribute paper records
• Stores information for other ancillary equipment
• Monthly & Annual “Inspection Planner”
• Provides planned advanced reminders and warnings of impending inspections and repair scheduling or re-calibration requirements.
• Approved for use by The Vehicle & Operator Services Agency
• Simple ‘pay by use’ costs
• No Annual Fees – No Hidden Costs
• Completely Free Access to Repair Agents

Full database access to the history for each vehicle is available to authorised personnel, which may be accessed via the internet. This facility removes the cost of distribution of paper records and provides a powerful management tool in support of good practice in the operation and maintenance of the vehicle.

Where the information is recorded by an Approved Repair Agent, the record can be immediately available to the Operator and approved before the vehicle leaves the Repair Agent.

The system also provides a comprehensive database of vehicle information with name, address and contact details of VOSA Inspectors, Repair Agents and personnel involved in the planned maintenance of the Fleet.

Key Features:

• Report Types: Daily Walkrounds or Planned Inspections
• Secure Levels of User Access
• Full Vehicle Details
• Body and Trailer Type
• Additional Equipment Fitted
• Mileage
• Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
• Repair Agent Cotact Details
• Anniversaries and Due Dates
• MOT Annual Inspection
• Tachograph Calibration
• Service Intervals
• Additional Equipment Inspections
• Full schedule of Defects and Repairs
• Tyre inspections
• Wear and Pressures
• By Axle
• Brake Inspections
• All Systems
• By Axle
• Additional Information
• History Functions
• Query and Report Facilities
• Automatic Reminders
• Vehicle Status
• Year Planner Report
• Maintenance Tracking
• Service Reminders
• Defect Status

What does it Cost?

Use of the system is by annual subscription, depending on fleet size, to cover the running and maintenance of the system, and thereafter there is no cost for using the system:

For Fleets who do not have the facility for data entry or who wish to contract out of these tasks, we can offer a Bureau Service to enter data from hard copy reports.

Simply fax the completed forms to us and we will input them into the system.

The database may then be accessed to provide Management Information and reports.