We’ve been told we’re supposed to fill in a defect sheet every night for the tractor unit. If there’s nothing wrong with it, we’re supposed to put “Nil” on it, sign it and hand it in. We don’t fill one in for the trailer, and we pull up to four trailers every night.
We also have to fill in a run sheet, which covers the same ground as the “Nil Defect” thing. As far as I can see, the run sheet covers the legal requirements - which require you to show that you’ve checked the vehicle over - and the “Nil Defect” reports are just a waste of time. Am I right in this, or should I start filling in nil defect sheets? And while I’m on the subject, should I ring the fire brigade every morning to tell them my house is not on fire?
I dont see a problem writing nil
I expect it’s VOSA who have said they have to do that. It will be a condition of the operators licence so you will have to do it.
Nil comment
We do it and i don’t have a problem with it as it shows you’ve left the vehicle with no defects
and therefore is all ok for the next driver who’ll be taking it over. If there is a defect then by
letting them know early enough it has chance to be rectified.
We have a weekly sheet, just circle yes or none day by day, enter a brief description in the box if yes. We do a separate one for trailers when we drop them in the yard
We do a defect sheet daily if there’s nowt wrong with the motor I put NDF if there is I’ll report it and write it on the sheet.
NDF = No Defects Found
think yourself lucky, If I pull 4 trailers in 1 day, I have to fill in 4 FULL check sheets.
bristolron:
I expect it’s VOSA who have said they have to do that. It will be a condition of the operators licence so you will have to do it.
+1
Have to do 1 every day unit and trailer, as said its a vosa thing aswell as a company thing.
Mind you work get a bit annoyed if you fill it in and put Nil defects while your in the office doing your paperwork tho lol.
bald bloke:
If there is a defect then by letting them know early enough it has chance to be rectified.
That’s one of my problems with it. If there is a defect - an actual defect, as opposed to a “nil defect” - surely it just stands more chance of getting missed in the sea of bits of paper saying there’s nothing wrong with the vehicle? Nil defect sheets seem to me to just increase the signal to noise ratio.
George@ASDA driver:
think yourself lucky, If I pull 4 trailers in 1 day, I have to fill in 4 FULL check sheets.
… and that’s my other problem with it. Surely if we have to fill one in for the unit, we should be filling one in for each trailer? And if the run sheet satisfies the legal requirements for the trailers - which it appears to - why does it not do so for the units? It covers exactly the same ground as the defect book sheets.
Rhythm Thief:
bald bloke:
If there is a defect then by letting them know early enough it has chance to be rectified.That’s one of my problems with it. If there is a defect - an actual defect, as opposed to a “nil defect” - surely it just stands more chance of getting missed in the sea of bits of paper saying there’s nothing wrong with the vehicle? Nil defect sheets seem to me to just increase the signal to noise ratio.
We also have to fill a defect form out and hand it in personally so for that reason it won’t get missed.
I don’t have a problem filling it out with nil - but I agree it does add to the s/n ratio. If you use a duplicate book each, then you have the copy but there is none for the next driver. I would prefer to see a book for each lorry so that it’s full history was available
About 25 years ago I was working for a local authority where we had to call in and report if we were off sick.No problem there! BUT we also had to send a monthly sheet reporting all absences and if there were none we had to make a “nil report”. Our department stopped after we sent the line manager “happy not your birthday” and “merry not Christmas” cards.
bristolron:
I expect it’s VOSA who have said they have to do that. It will be a condition of the operators licence so you will have to do it.
This is correct as a TM I have to sign these off every week.If defects are found the proof of rectification has to be attached.NDF indicates daily checks have been done.
nw explorer:
bristolron:
I expect it’s VOSA who have said they have to do that. It will be a condition of the operators licence so you will have to do it.This is correct as a TM I have to sign these off every week.If defects are found the proof of rectification has to be attached.NDF indicates daily checks have been done.
Does the run sheet not do the same thing? I’ll happily start filling in nil defect reports - even though I can’t see the logic of doing one for the unit but none for the trailers - but I thought that all you needed was something - anything - to show that the daily checks had been carried out.
Rhythm Thief:
Does the run sheet not do the same thing? I’ll happily start filling in nil defect reports - even though I can’t see the logic of doing one for the unit but none for the trailers - but I thought that all you needed was something - anything - to show that the daily checks had been carried out.
That something - anything is marked on your tacho as other work.
Vosa require a paper trail of evidence that the truck has been checked before use & a defect book is probably the best way to keep Vosa happy. It is not a legal requirement to have filled in a defect sheet, it is however a legal requirement for the driver to check that their vehicle is roadworthy (to the best of their knowledge) before use.
Same goes for your car that you use to get to work, although proving you have checked it is difficult.
NDF for me as well, covers your arse!
Chas:
Rhythm Thief:
Does the run sheet not do the same thing? I’ll happily start filling in nil defect reports - even though I can’t see the logic of doing one for the unit but none for the trailers - but I thought that all you needed was something - anything - to show that the daily checks had been carried out.That something - anything is marked on your tacho as other work.
Vosa require a paper trail of evidence that the truck has been checked before use & a defect book is probably the best way to keep Vosa happy. It is not a legal requirement to have filled in a defect sheet, it is however a legal requirement for the driver to check that their vehicle is roadworthy (to the best of their knowledge) before use.
Same goes for your car that you use to get to work, although proving you have checked it is difficult.
Most O Licenses require an ‘operator to have a system of recording and documenting daily vehicle checks, including nil defect reports.’
So yes, there does need to be a bit of paper with either ‘NIL defects’ or whatever the defects are written on it. As said above if a defect is found then the repair must also be documented and noted with the defect sheet.
My guess with the run book and defect sheet ‘doubling up’ is that in the office there is a filing system for defect/nil defect reports, and a separate one for your run sheets. If the run sheet was the only report and a repair was needed, the repair would need confirming and signing off on the same sheet (or attaching to it) and this would make filing messy.
VOSA don’t insist on a nil defect, they recommend it’s done as a paper trail to show that drivers are carrying out daily checks, but all they insist is that you have a system of recording and rectifying defects and the records are kept for 15 months.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/222572/Maintaining_roadworthiness_PCV_1110.pdf
Relevant section from Page 11.
‘Nil’ defect reports, if they are produced, should
be kept for as long as they are useful. Normally
this is until the next one is received or until the
next scheduled safety inspection is undertaken.
‘Nil’ defect reports are not required under the
conditions of operator licensing. However, they
are a useful means of checking that drivers are
carrying out their duties in this respect.