Regarding Shrewsbury test station.We gotsent there from MOTEC to go into the pits etc and watch a test being carried out.Two of us were under a 8 wheeler.The tester said .You have to check the spring hangers on these AEC,s Trouble was we were underneath a Foden at the time 
A young lady was there with a horsbox and it was fitted with red side markers,good looking girl 
It passed.
During the seventies and eighties I was a director of Darlington Driver Training Ltd, and a one time the Thatcher government were looking at privatising the test stations. We were informally told that we would be looked at favorably to buy and operate Darlington, as no doubt similar organisations would in other areas of the country. I was financial director and spent hours working out what we would be prepared to pay, then they decided not to go ahead.
Interesting topic this, as before long testing stations will be few and far between.
I read the comments of the posts and as I was not there at the time, have to take as printed as the facts.
But when I served my time 1981-86 we had at least 1 test a week so I washed the vehicle/trailer underside,it was then inspected and then presented at the allocated time for annual test, if it failed (which in 5 years was only 4 times) we did the required repair and presented for re-test if it could not be done at the time at the GVTS as a PRS, no song and dance no shouting etc.
I then through my life on the spanners had a good pass record at 4 GVTS sites, that I wonât name, and only ever encountered a number of fails when working for a haulage contractor that payed me very well, but an MOT was never given any preperation time and preventive maintenance was a joke ( Did not stay long).
Yes there are I am sure times when people felt that they should have passed, but if it aint a fail item in the testers manual it is not a fail.
I worked a few years at a GVTS as a tester and later a tech officer and 99.99 % of presenters were a pleasure to deal with and I would try to help if at all possible, there was a couple of times my parenthood was questioned but I have a document to prove that the statement was in fact incorrect.
Took a Strato to a local test station ( wont mention the one) , one of the testers was nicknamed Adolf for obvious reasons, he used to measure the lights everthing, even the other testers didnât like him, Anyway this Strato had been working on a sea wall project and we had bought it off the job. Before id even got to the brake test the unit and trailor had already had Adolfs full attention and a retest was on the cards, onto the rollers and the words " steady on the brakes " came out then " full application " so I did and the brake pedal , fell through the floor and ended up hanging by the pipes by the front wheel whilst Adolf continued to shout full application to no avail. Needless to say it didnât pass and I had to leave it in the yard whilst I awaited the old fellow fetching our wrecker. The other testers needless to say found the whole episode highly amusing to say the least Adolf was mortified whilst finding a side marker an inch out of true he,d missed the fact that the floor pan under the drivers seat due to the sea water was completely rotted away.
flishflunk:
How about the Driving Test Examiners.
There was 2 at Heywood, a tall thin one and a short fat one, one of them was called Harry (I think), but I canât remember which one. Both of them had been punched a time or two for failing drivers who had been driving for 20/30/40 years. Drivers who had never had any accidents or convictions for driving offences, but for whatever reason couldnât claim a licence under Grandfather Rights. Driving schools started to book their tests at Bredbury and even Simonswood. So the Ministry started swapping these two Examiners about between Heywood and Bredbury so you wouldnât know who the Examiner was going to be when going for your test.Ray
Was Harry surname Goodenough around 2001 who failed me on my first class one test at Bredbury. Alright, I was no good enough!!!
How to be a tester in Northern Cyprus.I know because I lived there for 8 years.Take the lorry to police mot station.Tester will then get you to tilt the cab,check the engine number and if its the same as in his book will give you THREE years mot No brake rollers,no pit,no lights checked not even a look at the tyres.I witnessed this when I took my 4 year old Kawasaki for mot.The tester came to about 30 foot away told me to start it,rev it and then he FAILED it 
No front number plate.Most cars will fail if tester can not see engine number is clean!!! He does not like getting his hands dirty.
About 15 years ago i went for a test at our local HGV testing station.As i waited,
in the lane next to me was an FL10 plus bulker trailer,both for test.The inspector went round with his hammer,but seemed to spend a long time by the n/s/f trailer
wheel.After a few moments he went to the cab,and showed the driver the wheel
nut he had just removed BY HAND!! Obviously well checked
luckily,they lent the guy a wheel brace!
A can of worms this topic! We had about one eight legger for test each week and Derby was the preffered station, we had a good relationship with them and a decent pass rate as well. However we had a spell at Watnall and what a difference, they already had the NCB and other bulk hauliers fleets so the last thing they wanted was a further 40+ eight wheelers and they made us well aware of the fact! I took a Mastiff and all seemed well until I got my paperwork, failed! When I queried it the reason was that the driver had a shovel in the cab and they said it COULD interfere with the controls, I took the shovel and chucked it in the body but the ensued an argument as to whether a retest fee should be paid. On another occasion I had ONE loose wheelnut, I asked to use their wheelbrace and was told that it was for their use only and I would have to drive 30 miles back to the quarry to tighten it and book a retest. I finally borrowed one from another driver and they then passed it. Finally we returned to Derby and sanity!!
The worst thing about testing was trying to get the Foden transmission handbrakeâs to hold the truck on the test ramp (couldnât use the rollerâs for that) with about 12 tons on the back, I had a piece of pipe to put over the lever for better pulling power. I then had to swing my legs out of the cab door so that they could see that I wasnât using the footbrake, the fun came trying to get the â â â â thing off again and I had to stand up in the cab to try and get extra leverage to release it while the tester was shouting at me.
Another time I was turning the steering from lock to lock on an S50 half cab, again with about 12 tons on board, when the power steering pipe on the ram burst! Such language from the tester who came out of the pit covered in red power steering fluid. FAILED!! 
I could go onâŚ
Pete.
In the summer time, I worked in our fleet workshop maintaining liquid and LPG tankers.
We had a test every Monday morning and I regularly got the job. One or two little gems here: One of the first things the testers used to do (maybe still do) was to peer under the front panel and ask you to âlift the steering wheel up and downâ. I often thought this a bit bizarre as I didnât know what they were looking for. So, one day asked the fella who I got to know why they done this when all tilt cabs had sliding splines at the bottom of the colomn so made no difference at all. He replied âI have to look to see if there is any âliftâ in the steering boxâ. I said surely this is not for real and he looked at me and said âdonât even go thereâ we all know this is rubbish but, itâs what the testers manual sayâs have to be done. After that, he always smiled and winked when we carried out the phantom check.
The next was the LPG tankers - oh what a joy they were! We always had first test and the tankers have to be loaded for the rollers.
Straight past the queue and into the hall. No one else was allowed in whilst the test was taking place and they were all paranoid that the thing was going to blow up! Copper hammers etc. Heaven help you is there was a smell of gas! It had to be mega clean and smell free.
The next was an elderly Scania 86 6x2 tanker with an automatic gearbox. This wagon was prepared in a subby workshop as they were short of work. I picked the wagon up, loaded with Gasoil and off to the test station. All went well until the brake rollers.
The tester gave the usual 'apply the brakes slowly - a bit more - bit more - lovely, hold it there. What he didnât know was the pedal was buried into the floor with full air up. âAll the way down driverâ - bugger - erm, I have already done that! epic fail!
We all have stories about these places and could fill a book up.
Regards.
Stephen.
Some years ago when I was an owner driver & a RHA Member I bought a book regarding MOTS, For Hgvs, I donât have it now which is a real pity because it was more like a joke book, For example things that would cause the vehicle to fail regarding the doors, Was door missing. Well who would present a vehicle with a door missing for an MOT , Eh this was a book advising hauliers on how get their stuff through the test, It beats me, Also some of the testing stations are earmarked to close down, What the hell is this all about after spending lots of money on them Like the one on Sandy Lane Wideopen refurbished not to long ago. Regards Larry.
You all need to live in NZ, if the test station ( NZ govt. run who rob you). Are more than 80k from your base the local garage was allowed to do itâŚour Volvo F12 Globetrotter and a tri axle tipper didnât even fit through the door ! , after a 600m round the block test with a stamp on the brakes and a walk around with a hammer tapping a few bits it passed every time !
What a system, there were 8 wagons registered in our village. Most that I never ever saw.
Anybody ever go onto the stands at truck shows? I had great fun at Tipcon after watching a video on the ministry stand.They had removed the king pin bushes and slackened of the brakes then asked us if it would pass the mot.Of course we all said no but they said we were all wrong 
I then told them they were taking the you know what out of every haulier there.Garrets Green now closed down,shame.