An operator licence is a promise
Every operator running goods vehicles out of Leicester has committed to inspection intervals as a condition of their licence. In a city that had become a distribution centre by the 1990s, with logistics, engineering and retail businesses holding significant sites in and around it, there are a great many of those commitments to keep. Missing one doesn't just risk a defect going unnoticed; it leaves a hole in the records that DVSA will see at the next visit or roadside check.
Our job is to make each inspection count. We inspect to the standards DVSA publishes, including its Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness and the HGV inspection manual, and we treat the inspection as a hunt for problems rather than a form to fill in.
What happens on the day
The vehicle comes to our workshop at Melbourne, near junction 23a of the M1, on a date agreed with you. We work through the brakes and air system, including braking performance, then steering, suspension, tyres and wheel security, lights and electrics, the chassis and coupling gear, the cab, mirrors and the driver's view, and anything that is leaking.
Whatever we find is written down, put right and checked again before we sign the sheet. The record you take away describes the vehicle as it left our workshop, not as it came in, which is what your maintenance file needs to show.
Getting ready for the annual test
A failure at the test centre means a retest, a lost day and a blemish on the vehicle's history. Preparation turns that around. Ahead of the test date we go through the items that most often catch vehicles out, such as lamps, brakes, tyres, leaks, steering joints and load security fittings, and fix them first. If one of your Leicester vehicles has already failed, bring us the failure sheet: we carry out the repairs, prepare it for the retest, and look honestly at why the last inspection didn't catch the problem.
Fitting inspections around a Leicester week
Inspection days work best when they land on the vehicle's quietest day. Tell us which days your trucks, trailers or vans are least needed and we will book around them, and where the service is due at a similar point we will do both together so the vehicle only makes the trip up the M1 once. Operators on a fleet contract have the whole calendar planned for them.
Your drivers' daily walkaround checks are the other half of the system. If the same defect keeps appearing on the sheets between inspections, tell us, because a pattern like that usually means the interval or the maintenance plan needs another look.
To book, ring 01332 916028 with the registration and the date the inspection is due. The workshop takes booked work Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
