VicRoads Concerned with Industry’s Neglect of Vehicle Maintenance

The Victorian Transport Authority has expressed concern with the number of companies that seem to be ignoring the maintenance of their vehicles, as recent inspections indicate.

VicRoads say inspections are evidence that firms need to “lift their game” when it comes vehicle maintenance.

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The authority is concerned that not enough trucking firms are regularly maintaining their fleet and this caused them to issue a warning to the industry to pay closer attention to vehicle maintenance issues.

VicRoad cited findings from the recent heavy vehicle inspection operations held in the Melbourne suburbs as evidence of their point. They say not enough operators are implementing strong enough maintenance procedures.

According to VicRoads the recent inspections conducted in Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs revealed that many vehicles on the road are actually defective. Of the 252 vehicles inspected, 224 recorded some sort of defect/s.

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VicRoads director of regulatory services Eric Henderson said in an article on Fullyloaded.com.au

“The numbers don’t lie. There are too many heavy vehicle operators ignoring their business and social responsibilities,”

“The majority of heavy vehicle companies operate stringent vehicle maintenance programs, but it is clear from our target testing that some business owners do not regularly maintain their fleet.”

Source: http://www.fullyloaded.com.au

In the eastern suburbs, there were 155 vehicles inspected and 90 of them had major defects while 44 had minor defects.

In the western suburbs 97 vehicles were inspected and 57 of them recorded major defects with 33 recording minor defects.

The authority said some of the more common issues involved steering and braking concerns, worn and/or damaged tyres and broken lights. Another common concern was loose bolts – faulty seatbelts were also common.

The inspections were carried out by the Victoria Police in conjunction with WorkSafe. Mr Henderson went on to explain:

“Any unsafe vehicle is a risk, with the potential to cause crashes and road trauma or break down, anywhere, anytime, causing unnecessary hold ups and great inconvenience to other road users,” Henderson says. 

“Our message to all road users is to maintain year-round vehicle maintenance and follow regular service schedules. In particular, we encourage heavy vehicle business owners to ensure they operate safe vehicles as we continue our random, targeted, roadside and on-site inspections.”

Source: http://www.fullyloaded.com.au

Mr Henderson warned operators that if their vehicles are found with major faults they will immediately be taken off the road or given an hour to travel to a repairer.

Authorities give 7 days for operators to address minor faults and those who fail to comply have their vehicles taken off the road.

To find out more about maintenance and COR, click here.