Trailers that drift off the schedule
On a site the size of East Midlands Gateway, which covers 700 acres and has room for more than 5,000 TEU of containers, or around the docks of the East Midlands Distribution Centre, trailers tend to be dropped, collected and swapped between units. A tractor unit has a regular driver who notices when something changes. A trailer has whoever coupled it last. That is why trailers are so easy to lose track of: one that spends days parked between loads can slip past its inspection date without anyone noticing, and a defect can travel with it from driver to driver without ever being reported.
Inspection to DVSA standards
At our workshop at Calke Mill Farm, Ashby Road, Melbourne, units, rigids and trailers are inspected against DVSA's published standards, including its Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness and the HGV inspection manual. Brake performance is assessed at every inspection. Couplings, lamps and reflectors, tyres and wheel fixings, steering and suspension, the chassis and body, curtains and load security fittings, and anything leaking are all checked, and on a unit the cab, mirrors and driver's view as well. Every defect is repaired and rechecked before the sheet is signed, so your records show the vehicle as it left.
Ready for the annual test
A failure at the test means a retest, more lost days and a mark against the operator. We prepare vehicles by working through the items that most often cause failures and fixing them before the test date, so the vehicle goes in ready to pass. If one has already failed, bring the sheet: we put the items right for the retest and look at why the last inspection missed them, because the same gap will catch the next vehicle too.
A calendar you don't have to carry
Inspection intervals are set on your operator licence and depend on each vehicle's age and use. Give us the fleet list, trailers included, and we will plan every inspection at the right interval, combined with servicing where the dates line up. That way the paperwork DVSA expects to see is in order, and a roadside check near junction 24 is far less of a worry.
Castle Donington operators can book on 01332 916028. The workshop takes planned work Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00, and coaches, minibuses and light commercials are inspected too.
