Research and analysis

Commercial vehicle fleet compliance checks, 2017 to 2018

Published 3 April 2019

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 the roadworthiness and traffic compliance of:

  • all heavy goods vehicles and trailers
  • Great Britain registered public service vehicles

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 2017 to 2018

Vehicle type Vehicles issued with a prohibition/serious offence Vehicles not issued with a prohibition/serious offence Total vehicles checked
Great Britain vehicle 269 2,256 2,525
Great Britain trailer 146 1,246 1,392
Great Britain traffic 216 2,311 2,527
Non-Great Britain vehicle 312 2,148 2,460
Non-Great Britain trailer 449 1,959 2,408
Non-Great Britain traffic 263 2,190 2,526
PSV traffic - school bus 16 476 492
PSV traffic - service bus 4 197 201
PSV traffic - coach 42 491 533

Prohibition and serious offence rate

Vehicle type % of vehicles stopped that led to a prohibition or serious offence
Great Britain vehicle 10.7%
Great Britain trailer 10.5%
Great Britain traffic 8.6%
Non-Great Britain vehicle 12.7%
Non-Great Britain trailer 18.7%
Non-Great Britain traffic 10.4%
PSV traffic - school bus 3.3%
PSV traffic - service bus 2%
PSV traffic - coach 7.9%

2.2 Historical information

These tables 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 2,525
Great Britain trailer 1,392
Non-Great Britain vehicle 2,460
Non-Great Britain trailer 2,408

3.2 Vehicle and trailer defect volumes

Vehicle type Immediate Delayed Inspection notice No defect
Great Britain vehicle 134 135 349 1,907  
Great Britain trailer 67 79 127 1119  
Non-Great Britain vehicle 84 228 268 1,880  
Non-Great Britain trailer 119 330 166 1,793  

3.3 Vehicle and trailer defect rates

Vehicle type % Immediate % Delayed % Inspection notice % No defect
Great Britain vehicle 5.3% 5.3% 13.8% 75.5%  
Great Britain trailer 4.8% 5.7% 9.1% 80.4%  
Non-Great Britain vehicle 3.4% 9.3% 10.9% 76.4%  
Non-Great Britain trailer 4.9% 13.7% 6.9 74.5%  

4. Traffic offence rate

4.1 Total number of traffic stops

Type Total number stopped
Great Britain traffic 2527
Non-Great Britain traffic 2525
PSV traffic - school bus 492
PSV traffic - service bus 501
PSV traffic - coach 533

4.2 Traffic offence volumes

Type Serious Warning No traffic offence
Great Britain traffic 216 129 2,182  
Non-Great Britain traffic 336 34 2,156  
PSV traffic - school bus 16 3 473  
PSV traffic - service bus 4 5 492  
PSV traffic - coach 42 24 467  

4.3 Traffic offence rate

Type % Serious % Warning % No traffic offence
Great Britain traffic 8.5% 5.1% 86.3%  
Non-Great Britain traffic 10.4% 1.9% 87.7%  
PSV traffic - school bus 3.3% 0.6% 96.1%  
PSV traffic - service bus 0.8% 1.0% 98.2%  
PSV traffic - coach 7.9% 4.5% 87.6%