Terrain Aeration’s David Green has fallen foul of VOSA regulations that have hit him hard in the wallet.
He claims that the tachograph regulations, originally applied to HGVs but now being enforced on 4x4s with a trailer attached, are not only extremely costly to comply with but are also unworkable
GRUMPY has been driving happily around the UK with his oddball machinery on a BIG trailer for well over ten years, covering 500,000 miles without incident. Grumpy’s vehicle and trailers have been inspected by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) on three occasions.
The first was in July 2008 when all was well, including all lights, loading weights and loading security.
The second was in late October 2008 and, once again, all was well. On the third cccasion Grumpy was fined £200 for not having a tachograph and banned from towing anything other than a 750kg trailer on the road until the tacho was fitted. My normal Ifor Williams trailers tip the scales at 660kg empty, so the usable payload is decidedly limited without breaching the 3500kg gross train weight that triggers the need for tachos. There is even disagreement here between VOSA officers - the legislation refers to maximum permissible weight. Guidance from VOSA, updated in 2009, defines permissible maximum weight as “the lower of the weights of the vehicle and trailer added together or the maximum train weight on the vehicle identification numer (VIN) plate of the tow vehicle”. Various interpretations from VOSA include the weight as per a weighbridge and the maximum possible weight i.e. the maximum train weight regardless of the actual loading. If VOSA cannot agree this
interpretation amongst themselves, how the hell do I know which interpretation I am going to have to deal with at the next VOSA check? Whoops, there is another hitch. There is no digital tacho made for the Daihatsu 4x4. This means that I cannot use the two I have in my fleet to tow. Fortunately, I found a second hand analog unit and, £412 later, it was fitted and calibrated. At last we were road legal on one of the rather old, but serviceable, vehicles. A new digital tacho was sourced and
hurriedly fitted to my Nissan Navara, and off we went. Well, not quite! The tacho is a digital unit costing £1,100, with a £400 fitting charge and needing a special part from Nissan costing £245. This digital tacho requires digital driver
cards and cannot be used by us lesser mortals who have never heard of a digital driver card. The DVLC take fifteen working days to issue these cards. If I drop in on the DVLC in Swansea it will only take a week! The irony is I was on my way to South Wales when I got pulled over at Swindon by VOSA. If that was the end of it then fair enough, but now I learn that the drivers need another gadget to read their own cards, so they can see if they are in compliance, and that the office needs to be able to download the data from their cards to carry out mandatory compliance checks. Here we go again. Driver gizmos cost £35 each, and an office downloader device is a further cool £379. Training for the staff to analyse their own, and all the drivers’ cards, is another £450. The software licence allows just fifteen downloads before a further licence fee is required, so this is a recurring cost. Will the bills ever end? My new, 170 horsepower, air
conditioned, very comfortable Nissan Navara was off the road until the digital cards turned up from Swansea. What was that about postal strikes? So, instead, I was forced to drive the analog tacho equipped, P reg, 100hp (if it is lucky) Daihatsu 4x4, which is just a bit gutless, has no air con and is decidedly cramped and uncomfortable to drive for long periods. Well done VOSA, that enforced substitution really will make me less fatigued on a long drive!!!
I am no longer in the first flushes of youth and I retain my paper driving licence, which is valid until 2020. I applied for my digital driver card and I am told by an “agent” from the DVLC that first I need a photocard licence. What nonsense is this? I already have a licence that has served me well since 1977 and remains valid until 2020. Unable to talk sense to a scripted puppet located in some remote call centre, I duly apply. My photo has to be taken and carefully crafted to fit the required size on both forms. I decide to
Grumpy
old Git!
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