The FTA (Freight Transport Association) and IRTE (Institute of Road Transport Engineers) signed a memorandum of understanding this morning (13 April 2011) at the CV Show.
The bilateral agreement will see FTA and IRTE working together on the production of a joint-workshop accreditation scheme.
Under IRTE workshop accreditation, FTA engineers will audit commercial vehicle workshops, enabling transport operators to buy maintenance services in the knowledge that they are in safe and competent hands.
"With so much at stake, companies need assurances that they are getting the standard of workshop service they expect," commented Nick Jones, CEO of the SOe – the umbrella organisation for the IRTE. "Our joint cooperation will afford buyers of maintenance provision a degree of confidence that has been sorely lacking until now."
"Today's MoU is the culmination of a good deal of work between both organisations. With around 80% of maintenance provision for LGVs outsourced, this is a logical step that will yield excellent results for the industry," added Theo de Pencier, CEO of the FTA.
