According to the data released today (27 September) by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, 198,381 annual tests were carried out between April and June this year.
Of these, HGVs tests numbered 111,911 (with a failure rate of 13.3%); 19,374 were PSVs (11.8% failure rate); and 67,096 were for trailers (9.4% failure rate), giving an overall failure rate for this vehicle group of 11.8%.
The most common reason for failure on both HGVs and PSVs was lamps; for trailers, it was service brake performance.
Hugh Rimmer, leader of DVSA’s vehicle testing task force, says: “Although the failure rate of 11.8% is far lower than that of cars – 32.5% of which failed their MOT in the same period – it is still too high.
“Heavy vehicles are subject to a strict maintenance regime and should also be subject to a daily walkaround test. Operators should ensure that their vehicles remain safe to drive the whole year round and that they’re properly prepared for the annual test.”
DVSA also says that almost one in ten of the vehicles tested failed on emissions issues and were not allowed back on the road until the problem was resolved.
In the same three-month period, DVSA allocated 152,000 testing hours to authorised testing facilities (ATFs); it used 140,500 hours of this, giving an average utilisation rate of over 93%.