Research and analysis

Fleet compliance check summary report, 2016 to 2017

Published 7 November 2017

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. About this summary report

As a commercial driver, you might be asked to stop by the police or a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) officer. They can stop lorries, buses and coaches.

The police and DVSA have the power to carry out spot checks on your vehicle and issue prohibitions if necessary.

Find out more about roadside vehicle checks for commercial drivers.

1.1 What the report shows

This report summarises roadworthiness and traffic compliance between April 2016 and March 2017 of domestic and foreign heavy goods vehicles and trailers.

GB-registered public service vehicles were only checked for roadworthiness offences, as the PSV checks alternate annually between those and compliance.

The checks detailed in this report were carried out on randomly-selected vehicles at randomly-selected roadside sites throughout Great Britain.

The data used in the report was provided by the Department for Transport’s in-house analytical consultancy.

2. Prohibition or serious offence

2.1 Summary for 2016 to 2017

Vehicle type Vehicles issued with a prohibition/serious offence Vehicles not issued with a prohibition/serious offence Total vehicles checked
Great Britain vehicle 279 2,251 2,530
Great Britain trailer 159 1,201 1,360
Great Britain traffic 202 2,357 2,559
Non-Great Britain vehicle 305 2,134 2,439
Non-Great Britain trailer 437 1,945 2,382
Non-Great Britain traffic 336 2,190 2,526
PSV (condition) 94 1126 1220

Prohibition and serious offence rate

Vehicle type % of vehicles stopped that led to a prohibition or serious offence
Great Britain vehicle 11%
Great Britain trailer 11.7%
Great Britain traffic 7.9%
Non-Great Britain vehicle 12.5%
Non-Great Britain trailer 18.3%
Non-Great Britain traffic 13.3%
PSV (condition) 7.7%

2.2 Historical information

The tables linked to below show the historic figure on the number of stops and prohibitions issued by DVSA:

Where ‘No data’ shows, it’s because either:

  • the checks were done in alternate years
  • no records are available

3. Vehicle and trailer defect rates

3.1 Total number of vehicle and trailer checks

Vehicle type Total number checked
Great Britain vehicle 2,530
Great Britain trailer 1,360
Non-Great Britain vehicle 2,439
Non-Great Britain trailer 2,382
PSV condition 1220

3.2 Vehicle and trailer defect volumes

Vehicle type Immediate Delayed Inspection notice No defect
Great Britain vehicle 132 147 347 1,904  
Great Britain trailer 59 100 147 1,054  
Non-Great Britain vehicle 92 213 281 1,853  
Non-Great Britain trailer 106 331 169 1,776  
PSV condition 53 41 320 806  

3.3 Vehicle and trailer defect rates

Vehicle type % Immediate % Delayed % Inspection notice % No defect
Great Britain vehicle 5.2% 5.8% 13.7% 75.3%  
Great Britain trailer 4.3% 7.4% 10.8% 77.5%  
Non-Great Britain vehicle 3.8% 8.7% 11.5% 76.0%  
Non-Great Britain trailer 4.5% 13.9% 7.1 74.6%  
PSV condition 4.3% 3.4% 26.2% 66.1%  

4. Traffic offence rate

4.1 Total number of traffic stops

Type Total number stopped
Great Britain traffic 2,577
Non-Great Britain traffic 2,526

4.2 Traffic offence volumes

Type Serious Warning No traffic offence
Great Britain traffic 202 54 2,321  
Non-Great Britain traffic 336 34 2,156  

4.3 Traffic offence rate

Type % Serious % Warning % No traffic offence
Great Britain traffic 7.8% 2.1% 90.1%  
Non-Great Britain traffic 13.3% 1.3% 85.4%