In the last few days I have bumped into a couple of people with the same problem and though I would pose the question here — How long is reasonable for VOSA to keep someone waiting at a roadside check.
I just so happened I was speaking to a tipper driver who had been pulled by VOSA into roadside check and they kept him so long the depot was shut when he got out and he had to tip his load next morning, his complaint was if that had been hot asphalt he would have been in real trouble.
Nothing was found wrong with the truck it just held him up for over an hour.
Then a bus driver mate tells me one of their guys gets pulled and held up for an hour and a half, no faults but he couldn’t pick up his passengers who were going to a wedding, they all had to get taxi’s and are suing the bus company.
Is there anything that defines what a reasonable delay is ■■?
I don’t think there is any time limit although an hour does seem excessive with no faults or laws broken. I reckon VOSA are like the Customs & Excise though and if you start to make waves, they will probably drench you 
I would probably send a strongly worded letter to Bristol stating what you have put here, especially with the wedding party and extra costs incurred.
It could be a MMTM myth, but a guy told me if you’d been pulled for routine rather than something glaringly wrong with the vehicle, and your load or collection was time sensitive, you can request that the vehicle and driver be available at an appointment set for a later date either at a test station, or the vehicles operating center. Could be ballcocks but the guy who told me is not usually full of doo doo.
Got pulled in Inverness at the test station a few weeks back , went through all the mechanical stuff in about 20 mins with no problem then got parked up to wait for the bird that was checking the tacho’s , turns out the guy in front off me had been a naughty boy and this vosa bird was coming in her pants at the prospect of nailing this guy on god knows how many charges, anyway after sitting for about 40 mins I went and had a moan at the head bummer in the office. The guy was brand new apologising for the delay and sending me and the guy behind me on my way.
So I take it they think an hour is excessive.
I got pulled at Lancing on the A27 about 3 months ago I was on a tight deadline I explained to the vosa guy that it was 12-45 and I had to be at a school (2 miles away) to drop within 15 minutes else they would not tip me, he went into the office and came out again and said ok on your way needless to say I was tipped in time. Common sense prevailed, tho with them not very often 
The Memorandum of Understanding (or some such wording) between VOSA and the Trade Bodies suggests that a ‘clear’ vehicle should be back on it’s journey within 30 minutes of being pulled into the checksite.
If faults are found then there is no time quoted with regard to how long they will take to deal with them.
I’m kind of wondering being a cynical kind of person if the bus driver who claimed was held up for ages by VOSA and missed his pick up either didn’t have the spherical objects to go to VOSA and ask to be released or was running late and used that as an excuse… Its just not ringing true…
. He just asked if I’d got a chart in and was in possession of 28 days worth of tachos, I answered ‘‘yes, which do you want first’’, he just answered ‘‘non of em, you’ve a green light rating and have been here too long, so on yer way sunshine’’ 
