Fleet software company FleetCheck has raised safety concerns for vans after the Government announced it is considering extending an LCV’s first MOT from three to four years.
The company said the consultation doesn’t take into account the punishment vans undergo. It said vehicles on home delivery fleets can cover 200,000 miles or more in four years, which would represent “a huge amount of wear and tear” on an LCV without an official safety check.
According to figures from the DVSA, almost half of LCVs fail their MOT at three years, and FleetCheck said an extension to four years would be “reckless”.
FleetCheck is calling for van MOTs to remain at three years on the grounds of safety. Ideally, the vehicles should be checked over on a regular basis, but Peter Golding, managing director of the firm, said this isn’t always the case.
“On a strictly legal basis, this should be happening on every fleet but, in the real world, standards differ widely from business to business,” he said. “Some four-year-old vans on highly professional fleets will be subjected to a maintenance regime that is not far below the type seen for large commercial vehicles but other vans being run by less fastidious operators will undergo the bare minimum of maintenance to meet legal requirements, if that.”