Bevan racks up glass carrying Type Approval first

Bevan operations director Lee Dimmock says the accreditation follows months of negotiation with VCA (the Department for Transport's Vehicle Certification Agency). It means that vans fitted by Bevan with racks manufactured at the Merseyside production facility of recently acquired Supertrucks automatically qualify for ECWVTA. Previously, such vehicles had to be submitted to DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) for IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) tests. But as well as adding cost, this process can result in weeks of delays before the van is registered and ready for delivery – a problem likely to worsen as more vehicle types fall in scope of ECWVTA at the end of this month. "Having audited all of our systems, as well as Supertrucks' products, VCA has now cleared Bevan to produce groups of vehicles fitted with glass racks, which will comply with current Type Approval regulations," states Dimmock. "The potential advantage in terms of reduced lead times is huge," he continues, adding that while some glass carriers have been exploiting a loophole in the regulations – by purchasing and registering unmodified vans, then having them fitted out retrosp0ectively – that means future problems. "Responsible operators prefer to do things properly and ensure that their vans are fully finished, and approved, with quality racking systems and other features, such as additional lighting, already in place, prior to registration," he insists. "We have modified significantly the design of our frails to meet the requirements of the approval scheme, while maintaining the superior quality of the equipment," comments Supertrucks manager Dave Hill. "The fact that we can produce and Bevan can now fit our systems here in the UK is a further step forward for the two businesses," he says.