One of the great success stories of a year dominated by Covid-19 has been the ability of the road transport industry to keep the country moving and to put food on people’s tables. And that is due, in no small measure, to effective repair and maintenance regimes that have kept vehicles on the road in difficult working conditions.
Not only that, some sectors of logistics, such as home delivery, have expanded unexpectedly quickly, putting more pressure on operators to respond quickly and flexibly.
This survey looks at strategies for repair and maintenance, as well as tyres, in this difficult environment. We have compared the results with surveys that we carried out into these issues in 2019 and 2020.
The DVSA regularly publishes its top 10 HGV test fails. The most recent list from the second quarter of 2020 puts problems with lights at the top of the list, followed by braking issues, steering, suspension, speedo/tacho, and tyres. Figures on HGV tests from the DVSA show that in quarter two 2020, 113,230 vehicles were tested with an initial failure rate of 13.1% and a final failure rate of 8.8%.
