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Heavy goods vehicles have grown in both sophistication and functionality over the years. But the real value to the operator comes when the vehicle is out on the road working.

Whilst reliability has increased, putting the right strategy in place for repair and maintenance is still critical to ensuring vehicle availability.

One measure of this comes from government vehicle test statistics. Figures from the DVSA show that in in the year 2018-19, a total of 432,778 HGVs were tested, with an initial failure rate of 15%.

These figure show a substantial improvement since 2013-14, when the initial failure rate for the 404,036 HGVs tested was 21.6%. The figures also highlight the increase in failure rates, as vehicles get older. In 2018-19, the failure rate for one-year-old HGVs was 3.6%, while the failure rate for five-year-old vehicles was more than double that at 8.6%. And, for 10-year-old vehicles the failure rate was 18.3%.

This simply serves to emphasise the importance of staying on top of vehicle maintenance as the fleet matures.

This supplement has been produced in conjunction with MAN Truck & Bus UK, Hireco, Totalkare Heavy Duty Workshop Solutions, Jaama and Motor Transport.

It examines the vehicle repair and maintenance strategies adopted by fleet operators, focusing on the choices they make and the reasons for those decisions.

We hope this study gives a useful insight into the options available for repair and maintenance and why operators adopt their chosen strategies.

This report was produced in collaboration with our sister title Commercial Motor. It is free to download for all registered users of Commercialmotor.com - and registration is free too. Click here to download this report from the Commercial Motor website and either log in or register if prompted to do so.