DVSA Releases New Guide for "Maintaining Roadworthiness”

Commercial vehicles need to be maintained in a road worth condition and a  walkaround check should be conducted by every driver before they start work.

To this end the DVSA has just released (April 2023) a new guide for maintaining the roadworthiness of your commercial vehicles, be that a goods vehicle or a passenger vehicle. Drivers conducting the checks should be trained and given clear written instructions about their responsibilities. While the details of the check should be recorded and include as a minimum the following:

• Date of inspection
• Name of owner/operator
• Location of the inspection
• The organisation/person who carried out the inspection
• Vehicle identity (registration mark/trailer number)
• Make and model of the vehicle
• Mileage reading (odometer)
• A list of all the inspection manual items to be inspected
• Details of any defects
• Name of inspector
• Complete details of any repair work and who did it
• A signed declaration that any defects have been repaired satisfactorily and that the vehicle is safe and in a roadworthy condition.

These records need to be kept for a minimum of 15 months.

Descartes SmartCheck replaces the traditional paper-based method of recording these daily checks and enables a digital record to be sent to the Transport Manager, even when the vehicle is inspected away from its base. 

All inspections, flaws, and corrective actions are recorded by SmartCheck for later review and as with all Descartes SmartCompliance products, it features a robust reporting tool to transform vehicle check data into actionable management information for keeping transportation operations compliant.

Learn About SmartCheck