Essential fleet safety report delays putting compliance at risk

Holman is calling on the fleet industry to work together to tackle delays in receiving compliance paperwork for inspection, servicing, maintenance and repair (SMR) work.

Holman (formerly ARI Fleet UK) claim that the volume of documentation and a shortage of technicians means leasing and fleet management companies often experience delays from garages for essential safety reports such as brake test reports and preventative maintenance inspection documents to ensure O licence compliance.

It is asking the DVSA to intervene to make the process easier for garages.

Rachel Bullen, transport compliance manager at Holman, said: “Getting documents from garages quickly is proving to be a big task.

“We need items such as brake test reports asap or within 48 hours to ensure safety compliance, but often we are having to chase them to send us the details.”

She continued: “As a fleet management and leasing company we take on the burden on behalf of our clients.

“We know that a shortage of technicians and using outdated paper-based procedures is making life difficult for garages – they are drowning in paperwork.

“While some have thankfully moved to more electronic methods, this is not universal and something others in our position have also cited.

“We are urging the industry to come together with the relevant authorities, such as the DVSA, to explore ways of smoothing the issues out.”

Bullen says that the frustration has led Holman to implement further compliance technology to quickly identify issues.

She added: “Our enhanced compliance system will run reports on clients’ vehicles and check documentation – this will give our staff more information to challenge and support garages with. For those garages that do use electronic methods, our systems can ingest this content easily.”

Fleets running vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes GVW need extra safety and compliance checks through the O licence legislation.

But to reduce some of the enforcement burden, certain operators who can demonstrate a robust track record to compliance and safety can qualify for the Earned Recognition Scheme – this allows the DVSA to remotely monitor fleet compliance through systems such as the one Holman has invested in.