DVSA urges operators to bring forward fleet tests to avoid "absolutely horrendous" bottleneck later in year

The DVSA is encouraging operators to pull forward their annual tests after concerns grew that last year’s exemptions now threaten to overwhelm the regime.

MoTs for heavy vehicles and trailers were suspended in 2020 in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of this decision is expected to be felt later this summer when thousands of tests become due.

The DVSA said test dates were not evenly spread and it expected August, September, October and November to be “significantly busier than usual”.

It said: “This will put pressure on the wider industry, including those involved in preparing vehicles for test and maintaining them throughout the year, as well as the capacity available at ATFs.”

The agency is now asking operators to consider getting their fleet tests moved to May or June when it is expecting much lower test volumes.

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Paul Glover, ATF manager at Stan Robinson, said it was relatively quiet at the moment, but he feared for what the remainder of the year would hold: “August, September and October are going to be absolutely horrendous,” he said.

Scania aftersales director Mark Grant said once the testing exemptions are withdrawn he expected there to be an issue with test slots.

He said: “We are concerned we will struggle for test dates in July, August and September.

“We work with our customers where we can and we are very flexible; we can work seven days a week.

“But it’s the availability of the testers from the DVSA which is the restricting factor for us,” he added.

• This subject is covered in more detail in a forthcoming Motor Transport feature.