Coronavirus: Logistics UK report shows fleet compliance

Safety has been at the forefront of commercial fleet operations throughout the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report from Logistics UK.

The Compliance Report 2020 is based on the business group’s analysis of publicly available data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), as well as Freedom of Information requests made to the Agency.  

It identifies several areas where compliance appears to be improving. Prohibitions – orders from either the DVSA or police during road worthiness checks which prevent an individual from driving a vehicle until a defect is fixed – are down almost 19% in 2018/2019 from 2013/2014 for GB operators.

However, James Firth, head of road freight regulation policy at Logistics UK, said: “Logistics UK’s first Compliance Report shows that measuring compliance, including the way in which DVSA targets enforcement – as well as changes to the law – is not always as simple as numbers going up or down. 

“Industry and the authorities need to do more to understand what lies beneath the figures, and we need to make sure that interventions are focussed on getting dangerous vehicles off the road.”   

The compliance report comes after Logistics UK published its Skills and Employment Report 2020, which suggested an underlying skills shortage is going to be severely impacted by Brexit.