merc0447:
xichrisxi:
Do you fill in a OPs 13 checklist every morning or something like that?if so I’ll think you’ll find it asks in there if the vehicle/trailer has a current MOT so it isn’t “nothing to do with you” and DVSA certainly won’t let you tell them that if they pull you over.I’m pretty sure the op’s checklist will be no where near the standard of a ops 13 form.
We have to fill in a OPs13 every morning and at end of shift,always assumed it was standard for all companies tbh
So what have you done now you’ve found your truck is 3 months out of test, refused to drive it been the first think I hope.
Yea goes without saying Ed , quite surprised it’s not been picked up by anpr or vosa in the last 3 months .
A fine of up to £1000 for no MOT but it’s not an endorsable offence. No requirement for a MOT disc on the unit, just the trailer needs this.
As for immigrants inspection time of 6 hours for a unit? Can you see any company paying 6 hours labour at £50+ per hour just for an inspection? Most places will charge about an hour to an hour and a half for an inspection.
Operators don’t tell DVSA how often they’d ‘like’ to inspect their vehicles either. Most inspections are set for 6 weeks but this can be reduced to 8 for example if the vehicle is used infrequently or increased to 4 if the vehicle is used punishingly.
Driver gets a standard 60 quid fine don’t they for no mot.
It’s part of a pro drivers checklist especially for trailers. Must dash as I have to check when me own trucks mot is due and me own car come to think of it.
How are we (drivers) supposed to check if a vehicle we are allocated has a valid MOT? Let’s ignore using the Internet for a minute as not all drivers possess a smart phone (and why should they?)
the maoster:
How are we (drivers) supposed to check if a vehicle we are allocated has a valid MOT? Let’s ignore using the Internet for a minute as not all drivers possess a smart phone (and why should they?)
or tax and most importantly insurance
the maoster:
How are we (drivers) supposed to check if a vehicle we are allocated has a valid MOT? Let’s ignore using the Internet for a minute as not all drivers possess a smart phone (and why should they?)
You have every right to ask to see the current MOT status of any vehicle you are are being asked to drive,ignorance is not an excuse that will wash with the authorities I’m afraid.
bigbeefy:
the maoster:
How are we (drivers) supposed to check if a vehicle we are allocated has a valid MOT? Let’s ignore using the Internet for a minute as not all drivers possess a smart phone (and why should they?)or tax and most importantly insurance
As above.
I seem to remember this argument has happened before and it was finally decided that it was fair for a driver to assume that any vehicle he was given to drive by his employer was road legal and that the authorities would take that view also.
Edit to add - road legal as far as tax, MOT test and insurance are concerned.
xichrisxi:
You have every right to ask to see the current MOT status of any vehicle you are are being asked to drive,ignorance is not an excuse that will wash with the authorities I’m afraid.
I imagine you do have the right. Let’s suppose for a minute that you report to work at XYZ haulage at 5am, there’s nobody in the office and you find that your normal vehicle has been VOR’d by the night driver so you have a different than normal vehicle to drive. Do you (a) crack on safe in the knowledge that it is the operators responsibility to ensure that the vehicle is taxed, tested, insured etc. Or do you (b) not move until someone comes into the office and provides you with the proof that all is legal?
I think you will find that an employee driving a vehicle belonging to a Co he or she is contracted to has a defence established in law that he/she took it on faith that the vehicle was road legal with regards to tax/MOT etc. So in this case it would appear that ignorance is indeed an excuse!
Socketset:
Has anybody on here actually done that - no names no pack drill, just curious - just heard tales over the years of drivers being so pee’d off with their crap motors.
I did once in the late 90s. I offered to do some holiday cover for a guy who used to work on the same contract as we did on Hull docks for a bloke who ran a single wagon. His motor wasn’t the best but I couldn’t believe how bad it actually was once I started driving it. I’d driven better units used for yard shunters. The second day I pulled onto the weighbridge on the A63 where the wheeltappers were and mentioned that they should maybe pay particular attention to certain bits. Bits were found, wheeltapper walks round and asks me where the base was and how long it would take to get there. As it was parked on the docks 20-30 minutes away he gave me a prohibition notice to come into force an hour later. Took great delight phoning up the owner and informing him. Strangely enough the POS never got fixed and when the driver came back from holiday it was in a 10 year old but very nice condition Volvo F10. I got a thankyou from him for that. He had been trying to get the guy to fix it but was worried about pushing it too far for fear of losing his job. As a temp driver I had no such worries.
I don’t understand some things in Britain, proof of MOT is one of them as I just learned from you guys, that you don’t have a way to know if its due or not. Isn’t that dangerous?
In US and in most continental countries in Europe is mandatory to have proof of MOT(safety inspection) in the lorry at all times, how come its not mandatory in UK as well? Here if you drive vehicle(regardless of size) without MOT the vehicle insurance will not be valid.
the maoster:
xichrisxi:
You have every right to ask to see the current MOT status of any vehicle you are are being asked to drive,ignorance is not an excuse that will wash with the authorities I’m afraid.I imagine you do have the right. Let’s suppose for a minute that you report to work at XYZ haulage at 5am, there’s nobody in the office and you find that your normal vehicle has been VOR’d by the night driver so you have a different than normal vehicle to drive. Do you (a) crack on safe in the knowledge that it is the operators responsibility to ensure that the vehicle is taxed, tested, insured etc. Or do you (b) not move until someone comes into the office and provides you with the proof that all is legal?
If you’re really unsure…
Go online to the DVSA vehicle enquiry service to check tax - doesn’t seem to have HGV MOT details for some reason although it does for cars.
vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/
Then onto the Motor Insurance Database to check its insured which would be my main interest.
Dolph:
I don’t understand some things in Britain, proof of MOT is one of them as I just learned from you guys, that you don’t have a way to know if its due or not. Isn’t that dangerous?
No. A MOT is only worth the paper its written on at the time of the MOT so a HGV driver driving an employers vehicle without a MOT isn’t going to cause problems for the driver unless there’s a fault which the driver should have picked up on during his walk round checks or he is doing something like driving down the road with a red stop warning light on the dash.
You can drive out of the test station, have a massive crash and the MOT is still valid but obviously the vehicle isn’t safe to drive. The MOT is only an indication of the condition of the vehicle at the time of the test. You are required to maintain a vehicle to a level it should pass a MOT and HGVs are subject to mandatory periodic safety checks, usually every 6 weeks, between MOTs as well and the driver is required to do a daily check to ensure as reasonably as possible that the vehicle is mechanically legal and fit to drive and that is more important than having a MOT.
If we drive in the EU we’re required to have proof of the MOT but not in the UK as the entire MOT system is fully computerised now so the police/vehicle inspectors already know if you’re MOTd and taxed before they’ve even stopped you as their onboard computers are linked to the DVSA database. Once upon a time you used to get a certificate for the MOT and now they just print you out a generic A4 sheet of paper which you can throw in the bin if you want. Your insurance isn’t invalidated by not having a MOT and even if it were the law in the UK requires that the insurance company pays out third parties regardless and your insurer would then have to claim back the cost of the payout from you but a third party would never lose out.
BRS, and other firms I guess, sometimes had problems tracking down trailers that were due (or often overdue!) for MOT, they would be phoning around the depots trying to find out where they had last been used! 
The advantage of driving one truck all the time was that I knew exactly when the test was due and I could either book a weeks holiday or spend time in the garage painting the thing while the fitters prepared it. Anything was better than having to drive somebody elses truck for a week. 
Pete.
Thanks Conor 
Conor:
Socketset:
Has anybody on here actually done that - no names no pack drill, just curious - just heard tales over the years of drivers being so pee’d off with their crap motors.I did once in the late 90s. I offered to do some holiday cover for a guy who used to work on the same contract as we did on Hull docks for a bloke who ran a single wagon. His motor wasn’t the best but I couldn’t believe how bad it actually was once I started driving it. I’d driven better units used for yard shunters. The second day I pulled onto the weighbridge on the A63 where the wheeltappers were and mentioned that they should maybe pay particular attention to certain bits. Bits were found, wheeltapper walks round and asks me where the base was and how long it would take to get there. As it was parked on the docks 20-30 minutes away he gave me a prohibition notice to come into force an hour later. Took great delight phoning up the owner and informing him. Strangely enough the POS never got fixed and when the driver came back from holiday it was in a 10 year old but very nice condition Volvo F10. I got a thankyou from him for that. He had been trying to get the guy to fix it but was worried about pushing it too far for fear of losing his job. As a temp driver I had no such worries.
Interesting backstory on your rise to King of the Limpers.
Les Shoes:
I seem to remember this argument has happened before and it was finally decided that it was fair for a driver to assume that any vehicle he was given to drive by his employer was road legal and that the authorities would take that view also.Edit to add - road legal as far as tax, MOT test and insurance are concerned.
Yes, tyres and brakes are the main issue for drivers where personal responsibility is concerned as they are both endorsable. Most things either a tribunal or county court would rule the employer must pay any fines but particularly tyres they might manage to wriggle out of under daily checks.
Ignorance is a defence, in this case. If a driver had been told by a fitter, that a vehicle was out of test, than that would be different. But the idea drivers should play internet detective second guessing what their employers have told them is an absurd expectation and at most firms they would rightly be viewed as a troublemaker.
lolipop:
Obviously you have not been doing your vehicle checks properly,considering unit and trailer have MOT plates attached somewhere or should have,unless the law has changed,in which case I could be wrong.
Rubbish - there is not and never has been the equivalent of a trailer test disc (showing test certificate expiry date) for rigids or tractor units. “Ministry plates” (required to be displayed in the cab) are normally a once-only issue and don’t have expiry dates.
So yes, you are wrong (but not because of any change in the law).
And to top it off the alternative truck I have today is now playing up , won’t rev when it comes to a stop and when I stop the engine it will reset ok .it will rev ok then but wants to lurch away like the clutch is engaged 
Oh what fun 