THE FUTURE OF VEHICLE TESTING
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For nearly 18 months, we have covered the debate surrounding the future of vehicle testing. Initially, as VOSA's Testing Transformation Strategy kicked in and the first Authorised Testing Facility (ATF) contracts took considerably longer to be signed than VOSA expected, test stations, the unions representing their staff, and operators expressed deep concerns. They wanted the move to ATFs halted and a return to the status quo.
This summer leading industry associations (CM 12 August) threw their hats into the ring, with the Road Haulage Association calling for full privatisation of testing, like the well-established
system for car and van MoTs. So, we asked Trucking Britain respondents what they thought about the issue and the result is surprising.
Very nearly half (48%) think testing should remain as it is: a mixture of VOSA sites, Designated Premises and ATEs; fewer than a third (30%) said testing should only be conducted by VOSA sites; and less than a quarter (22%) said it should follow the car and van MoT model.
There was little or no variation in opinion, no matter how the responses are analysed (by type of operation, by sector served, or by size of fleet).