A call for evidence on suggested changes to the heavy vehicle testing regime for operators that are members of the DVSA Earned Recognition (ER) scheme closes on Friday 9 June.
Various changes that could be introduced for those organisations were published by the Department for Transport (DfT) on 14 April. They include extended intervals between tests, delegated testing, reduced test content, and improved service provision.
Full details of what DfT put forward may be found online. Responses can be made via email or by post, with a closing time of 2345hrs on 9 June. The work around ER members forms part of the wider heavy vehicle testing review that began some time ago. DfT expects to publish a summary of responses to the ER-specific part, and next steps, by 9 September.
The call for evidence comes as DfT continues to push the benefits of ER to operators. That work has seen the coach and bus industry proportionally much better represented than the freight sector and collaboration between DVSA and the Guild of British Coach Operators.
Separate to ER’s alignment with potential changes to heavy vehicle testing, DVSA recently trailed the first details of a new pathway scheme called Road to Earned Recognition.
Further details are expected to be announced in mid-June, but the voluntary programme will be available to those organisation that have held an O-Licence for less than six months old and wish ultimately to become ER members.
It will open to applications from 14 June and help those operators to run “safely and efficiently” in preparation for acceptance as a full ER member, DVSA says. Eligibility criteria for ER membership currently require that the O-Licence has been held for a minimum of two years.
It is understood that via Road to Earned Recognition, participating operators will work through set milestones under the guidance of DVSA’s ER team.
