By Amanda White 07 September 2010
Leading software firm Jaama are seeing rising demand for their Defect Manager system as transport firms work to meet legislative and ‘O’ licence requirements, which have been recently highlighted by the Freight Transport Association’s campaign to show companies the importance of training in and monitoring of daily walk-around vehicle checks in order to maintain road safety and legal compliance.
Jaama’s commercial vehicle defect logging reporting tool is a web portal within its Key2 Vehicle Management software system, which can be accessed remotely via a personal digital assistant (PDA) and provides drivers, transport and depot managers with an online tick box check list for walk-round appraisals of all vehicles, which can be utilised as often as required.
The Association’s campaign follows a survey in which it asked 70 volunteer drivers to spot deliberately made vehicle defects on a truck and a total of 46% of the defects went unnoticed including a missing fuel cap, a rear light not working and a broken mirror.
In addition to the Association’s campaign, a briefing note produced by the organisation advises companies: “All drivers should be fully trained in carrying out vehicle checks and on how your defect reporting system works. Checks should be carried out by all drivers on taking over the use of any and every vehicle or trailer. All drivers should be issued with defect report pads.
“Drivers should always complete, sign and date the form even if no defects are found - known as ‘nil’ defect reporting. These forms may help to satisfy enforcement officers that the vehicle was roadworthy when it left the depot. VOSA enforcement officers are guided not to issue fixed penalties to drivers if they believe that the problem happened during the journey.”
The Association’s advice adds: “Operators should carry out daily random checks to ensure drivers are always carrying out routine vehicle checks.
Also, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has published an industry recognised ‘Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness’ to help operators meet the minimum requirements of an effective preventative maintenance system.
Jaama developed Defect Manager in conjunction with a number of its Key2 users including SIG, the Sheffield-based international supplier to the construction and building markets, and international courier and logistics company DHL.
SIG UK logistics administration manager Tommy Duncombe said: “Defect Manager ensures that that SIG fleet of vehicles is safer than ever and meets VOSA compliance requirements.”
Jaama managing director Jason Francis said: “With a massive corporate focus on occupational road risk management, it is essential that transport organisations have a thorough vehicle audit trail in place which is why demand for our Defect Manager portal is on the increase.
“Defect Manager covers every imaginable part of a vehicle including fluid levels, lighting, brakes, tyres and bodywork to ensure that transport operators have the very latest information on the condition of every single vehicle on their fleet.
“It can be very easy for a busy operator to allow what could be a routine maintenance issue to slip through the net. That could then prove to be disastrous if the vehicle is allowed out on the road. Defect Manager ensures maximum compliance with legislation and industry best practice.”
Categories: Fleet news , Jaama
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