The DVSA is the agency responsible for upholding vehicle standards across the UK, with full-fleet assessments and roadside DVSA checks both common occurrences that should be expected by any fleet operator or manager.

This article covers the general running order of a DVSA visit and how fleet managers can prepare, ensuring you are able to showcase your vehicles, the technology being used, and your high standards of health and safety across the full fleet.

What to expect from a DVSA visit

When a DVSA inspector pulls a vehicle over on the side of the road, they are looking at the mechanics and safety of the vehicle, as well as checking the tachograph for driver hours data, ensuring the vehicle load is secure and properly labelled, checking driver licences, and driver CPC qualifications card.

If a DVSA officer comes to carry out an assessment at your fleet HQ or premises, the checks are more comprehensive. They cover the vehicle centre as well as the vehicles themselves and will often request records relating to servicing history and maintenance work. Other documents that the DVSA may request include driving training records and tachograph data to check compliance relating to driving hours and vehicle checks.

The purpose of these visits is to ensure that drivers and fleets are being managed and vehicles are being maintained in accordance with vehicle regulations and safety standards. It is a matter of compliance, with fleets undergoing DVSA visits and assessments on a regular basis.

How to prepare for a DVSA visit

The best way to prepare for a DVSA assessment or visit is to keep on top of your own in-house audits and inspections – so that when the DVSA arrives, you don’t need to do a lot of specific or extra preparatory work.

From completing daily vehicle inspections to submitting tachograph data, ongoing compliance is something that the DVSA will look for. The fleets and companies that stay ahead of their own auditing, that ensure all drivers hold the correct licences, and that audit their own tachograph data and make sure it’s accessible, are the ones that find DVSA visits the most straightforward and stress-free.

Other advice includes undertaking your own further research into what the DVSA expects regarding safety and compliance, and ensuring that all your records are well organised so they can be accessed and viewed with ease.

The better your own record keeping and maintenance inspections, the easier the process is.

The importance of a good OCRS

All of this work culminates in a good OCRS - Operator Compliance Risk Score – which is what allows your company to stay in your business, and your fleet on the roads.

Through Novadata, companies and fleet managers can commission a Transport Systems and Operator Licence Audit. This independent audit, by one of our own auditors will identify any problem areas and ensure that you’re ready for an upcoming DVSA inspection. During this audit, a member of the team will take the time to show you what you are doing wrong and advise you on best practice. This is a valuable opportunity to strengthen your processes to make them compliant, so that you can operate legally and profitably in the future.

Get in touch to book a Novadata audit, or to learn more about our other services.