Greater collaboration key in helping hauliers overcome DVS Compliance Hurdles During Peak Season

Greater collaboration key in helping hauliers overcome DVS Compliance Hurdles During Peak Season

 

By Wayne Minney, Transport General Manager at Bretts Transport

 

With the DVS (Direct Vision Standard) grace period now in full effect as of 28^th October 2024, the unfortunate reality is that many British hauliers will still be playing catch-up with regards to retrofitting PSS systems, leaving their vehicles being unable to enter Greater London.

 

Becoming compliant with the new regulatory updates has undoubtedly been a challenging transition for the industry as a whole, an industry which has already been under immense pressure over the past few years.    

 

According to a recent survey by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) conducted back in July, 57% of respondents expressed doubts about meeting the current deadline for installation.

 

This figure is very much reflective of the current state of play within the industry. With many hauliers reporting a hike in volumes and Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, and Christmas peak right around the corner, hauliers with non-compliant vehicles will be feeling the pressure to meet already tight delivery schedules.

 

It is essential therefore that the industry works together to support those yet to become compliant.

 

As without that support, hauliers, especially those with smaller fleets, will find it difficult to navigate successfully through the next few months and meet customer expectations if their vehicles are out of action until such time they meet the new PSS.

 

At Bretts we have taken proactive steps over the past 12 months to ensure our fleet is fully compliant with the latest updates.  Our partnership with Fleet Focus has ensured we have been able to retrofit the required PSS systems onto our vehicles which didn’t previously meet the new star rating.

 

We are now able to operate in Greater London seamlessly, giving us the confidence that we can meet customer demand during peak while remaining totally compliant with Phase 2 of the DVS framework.

 

Those hauliers who are not yet compliant will not be able to meet their customers’ expectations without help.  Alternative solutions will need to be found and in our view that solution is collaboration.