Number of trucks stopped by DVSA fell 20% last year

The number of HGVs stopped by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for crucial safety checks fell 20% last year.

Figures released by the agency – previously Vosa and the DSA – show that 80,802 HGVs were stopped at the roadside for traffic enforcement purposes during 2012/13, more than 20,000 fewer than in 2011/12. In addition, 64,060 vehicles were stopped for roadworthiness checks; down from 76,172.

The DVSA also said it checked 46,828 trailers – a 15% reduction on trailers checked in 2011/12. Of the 80,802 vehicles stopped, 37,389 (46%) were GB lorries; 4,356 were from Ireland (down 28%); and 6,313 were from Poland (down 24% from 8,302).

However, James Firth, head of road freight and enforcement policy at the Freight Transport Association, said the agency was investing a significant amount of resources into targeted, as opposed to random, checks.

He said: “We will always say we think the [DVSA] should be stopping more vehicles, but it’s a question of resources – and its resources are defined by the fees we pay.

“We look to it to maximise the effectiveness of its enforcement.”

Vosa’s (DVSA) annual report and accounts for 2012/13 make a case for this, stating the agency achieved an overall prohibition rate at targeted checks during the period that was almost 18% higher than the rate achieved through random compliance checks.

• Last year, the senior traffic commissioner, Beverley Bell, told a Committee of MPs that she was concerned about a significant reduction in the numbers of lorries being weighed by DVSA and that the agency was targeting the soft underbelly of the nice but incompetent operators. She said: “In 2005-06, there were 26,000, as near as damn it, weighing of vehicles. In 2010-11 there were 2,600, as near as damn it. That is a tenth.” In their report the Transport Committee echoed this, stating they were worried that DVSA was targetign too many small firms.