DVSA take new steps to focus on serially and seriously non-compliant operators

Posted by AndrewT on 22nd Jun 2015

The DVSA has reiterated its intent to free up resources to tackle the worst offending transport operators. Caroline Hicks, DVSA Head of Enforcement, has said in the past that she wanted to “completely transform” the way DVSA carries out enforcement for HGVs and vans by reducing the cost of compliance and increasing the penalties related to non-compliance. “We want the cost of compliance to be relatively low, relatively steady and relatively known,” Hicks said. “As soon as you choose to be non-compliant the costs will increase and they will keep increasing so that no business can afford to sit in that non-compliant area.” The DVSA has announced an initial step towards this with the trial of ‘earned recognition’ for HGV fleet operators.  Under the trial, transport operators making their records available to DVSA to view online could gain recognition as a compliant operator so, removing the need for the DVSA to perform roadside checks on them. The earned recognition system could reduce the burden on fleets freeing up the Agency’s time to tackle serious and serially non-compliant operators. It could also reduce the cost for fleets and the impact of their business. A national supermarket chain claimed that each roadside check cost its business more than £4,000 due to the just-in-time nature of their deliveries. DVSA commissioned research identified six types of operator:
  1. Exemplar
  2. Compliant
  3. Compliant with support
  4. Potential rule breakers
  5. Non-compliant
  6. Seriously/serially non-compliant
Operators that are Potential rule breakers downward are the ones that are much more likely to be targeted on the road. The new system will not be mandatory, however, the DVSA are likely to encourage operators to get on board. Source www.commercialfleet.org