Earned Recognition gives you the chance to mark your business out as one of the best in the industry. Participating will bring numerous benefits to your operation, so why wouldn’t you want to take part?
Allowing DVSA to target the non-compliant is what the agency’s Earned Recognition (ER) scheme is all about, but it has reminded law-abiding operators that participation can deliver benefits to their businesses, too.
That was the message from Chief Executive Gareth Llewellyn, speaking at last week’s formal launch of ER.
ER’s pilot period has ended, although processing applications from some operators that joined during its latter stages remains underway. Mr Llewellyn paid tribute to all those involved in the pilot as the best in their fields.
For those at the other end of the compliance scale, the missive is clear. DVSA will focus most of its resources on them, including potentially doing its best to put them out of business, as its view of enforcement continues to change.
Big or small – ER is for all
DVSA describes ER as a meritocratic scheme. Fleet size has no bearing on eligibility, and there is already at least one participant with a single vehicle. Regardless of size, ER requires an audit before the operator is accepted, and its digital compliance systems must be able to submit KPIs direct to DVSA. Contrary to earlier scaremongering, the agency has no access to raw data.
The most basic ‘user benefit’ of ER is that participants’ vehicles have little chance of being stopped at the roadside. To identify members, DVSA has added a blue category to OCRS. Its officers also have an app that displays a vehicle’s details, including its owner’s inclusion in ER.
DVSA accepts that KPI data can be manipulated if an operator is so minded. Doing that would be regarded as a serious conduct issue, and it would inevitably lead to the offender’s removal from ER.
Submission of fraudulent data could also see a report forwarded to the Traffic Commissioner, or even prosecuted, but Mr Llewellyn is confident that those taking part in ER are doing so for the right reasons, and that fraud will not occur.
However, DVSA has another fall-back. While the agency is committed to looking into the mooted self-MoT testing, Mr Llewellyn explains that seeing every vehicle yearly, including those of ER participants, is valuable. “It helps to validate the submitted KPIs. If we see anything during a test that we don’t like, we can go back to the operator and discuss it.”
Reputation booster
ER forms part of DVSA’s broader strategy to help the public differentiate good operators from bad ones. In the future, it will disclose more information to assist with that, and not just related to ER.
Pilot members have already received plaudits and Mr Llewellyn says that will continue as part of the full scheme. In particular, it is likely to include participants being able to display a logo on their websites or vehicles, which he believes will act as a business generator.
The relationship between DVSA and the operator also changes thanks to ER. If KPIs are not met, or a roadside stop is made due to an obvious defect, the agency is committed to working in partnership to put things right.
“If something goes wrong, we will tell the Transport Manager. We would ask for any reasons why it happened, and what will be done about it. Part of that discussion may be to agree an action plan,” he says.
One point of caution surrounds the use of agency drivers. If they have not undergone induction and training, there is potential for difficulty should they fail to observe the required standards.
What comes next?
ER forms part of DVSA’s strategy of targeted enforcement, and the agency expects to do much more with the both in coming years. Mr Llewellyn is cool on self-testing, but he accepts that it could eventually be adopted.
How KPIs evolve will be interesting. Currently, they are concerned with driver and vehicle compliance, but additional yardsticks may be added. One of those could relate to emissions. Presently, it is difficult for vehicle testers to monitor them at MoT, but in the future it may be possible for telemetry to keep an accurate, real-time record.
Exactly how that would be accommodated into existing reporting has not yet been decided, but it is seemingly related to the current scandal surrounding AdBlue emulators. It also gives an indication of where DVSA may take ER as a whole going forward.
Like any future additions to the scheme, emissions monitoring will rely on technology – something that DVSA expects will play an ever-increasing role in compliance in coming years.
The 16 PCV industry participants in the ER pilot were:
- Allenby Coach Hire
- Arriva London North
- Arriva London South
- Barnes Coaches
- Bournemouth Transport
- City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
- Coliseum Coaches
- Country Lion
- CT Plus
- Lucketts Travel
- Lakeside Coaches
- London Borough of Redbridge
- Reading Buses
- Stanley Travel
- Tower Transit Operations
- Worthing Coaches.
For more on Earned Recognition and how to apply, visit bit.ly/2I0s8yO
routeone comment
If technology doesn’t play a major part in your compliance systems, now may be a good time to think about changing that.
DVSA has made it clear that in the future, cloud-based monitoring will form a major part of its strategy. It has to; much is already available in this field, and the agency is under the same funding pressures as any other government body.
Those that follow DVSA’s inferred advice will benefit in two ways. Reducing their own burden of administration is one, but in a ‘you scratch my back’ manner, those who then join ER will see a much-reduced interest in their vehicles from Traffic Examiners.
ER may not be for every operator, but DVSA is confident that it will see a significant take-up in the PCV sector now the pilot has been successfully concluded.
