Concerns over safety mean that vans should be excluded from the Government’s new consultation on extending the first MoT to four years.
So believes FleetCheck, one of the UK’s leading fleet software and management companies, which is planning to make an official submission to the Department for Transport
The Government has asked for industry feedback on various options listed in its consultation document, including whether Class 4 and 7 vehicles – effectively all vans up to 3.5 tonnes – should be included in any future change.
Peter Golding, managing director, said, “The argument for extending the first MoT check is that vehicles are now much better made than they were even a few years ago. This is true but ignores the punishment that many vans undergo, which tends to be greater than cars.
“On a home delivery fleet, for example, it is not unusual to find a four-year-old van that has already covered 200,000 miles or more, which represents a huge amount of wear and tear being placed on a vehicle without an official safety inspection taking place.
“There is data from the DVSA showing that almost half of Class 7 vans fail their MoT at three years, so extending the test to four seems almost reckless.”