Thursday, September 12, 2013
Road Haulage Association recommends HGV technician licensing scheme
The Road Haulage Association has endorsed the IRTEC licensing scheme for licensing commercial vehicle workshop technicians.
The scheme provides a valuable guide to hauliers seeking to choose a supplier for HGV inspection, maintenance and repair services and provides independent evidence that the technicians in the workshop are trained and competent.
"The RHA Board has been keen to identify a standard that can assist members in choosing a provider and the IRTEC standard does just that," said RHA Head of Technical Services Ray Engley. "It also has the advantage of being a scheme in which the industry is closely involved, in terms of setting and maintaining the standard.
"The scheme was initially developed in the bus sector but has now come of age for HGVs. Hauliers should always actively manage their vehicle maintenance arrangements, because they remain responsible in law for the condition of their vehicles at all times, regardless of who is carrying out the maintenance. In cases where standards do need meet regulatory requirements, or maintenance records are inadequately kept, it is the haulier's licence to operate that is at risk.
"The IRTEC scheme adds further strength to the argument put forward by the RHA and others that HGV annual testing should be opened to the private sector, rather than remain a monopoly activity of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency.
"High quality inspections are already being carried out and fully documented by the private sector on vehicles at least four and often eight times a year; and now we have a quality accreditation mark. It is but a very short step to open up annual testing to those firms that can demonstrate they are maintaining and inspecting vehicles to a high standard," Ray Engley concluded.
The RHA has also welcomed the IRTE workshop accreditation scheme, which is concerned with equipment and services as well as personnel.Details of the two schemes can be found at: http://www.soe.org.uk/about-soe/represented-sectors/irte/
DATED: 12.09.13
FEED: HA
