VOSA exposes unroadworthy international freight vehicles
Date: 23 July 2007
The Vehicle & Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has uncovered a number of unroadworthy haulage trucks in its crackdown on vehicles embarking on international journeys.
VOSA carried out an 18-hour check on vehicles near the M20 in Kent earlier this month, to determine whether or not they were complying with vehicle safety and driver hours regulations. It was part of the South East International Pilot.
Out of 56 vehicles checked, 22 were issued with immediate prohibitions concerning roadworthiness, with a further 11 issued with delayed prohibitions, indicating the extent to which logistics operators were flouting the rules.
In terms of drivers' hours, 49 vehicles were checked and 16 prohibitions were issued.
The pilot scheme shows that there is a continuing need to clamp down on unroadworthy freight haulage vehicles on international journeys.
Vehicle examiner Kevin Jury commented: "The results of these checks speak for themselves and highlight the importance of VOSA's enforcement work, since we encountered a number of vehicles with multiple offences.
"The checks included a lorry with three severely defective tyres, a leaking fuel tank, a missing shock absorber and on top of that the driver failed to produce the required number of tachograph charts too.
"The few charts the driver produced showed insufficient rest period. Another driver's record showed that he was driving for 19 consecutive days without any sufficient rest. These vehicles must be removed from the roads if we are to improve road safety."
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