Does anyone check the registration on the tax disc?
I’m on agency and dive in different trucks all the time, so always do my checks, so when I was driving along on Friday and got a call saying ‘when you’re back in the area, can you call in for your tax disc as yours is out of date’ I was shocked.
I told them it couldn’t be or I wouldn’t have left the yard, and said that it expired 03/15, they said they had it in front of them - doubts then form in my mind and I start to wonder if it said 14…
Anyway, I was right, it did say 03/15, it just wasn’t for the truck I was driving
Personally I don’t, I figure if has the right registration number on it on the day I put it in the windscreen then it is unlikely to go out of synch any time over the next year. For the same reason I don’t bother to check if the O licence is correct on my daily walkaround check so I can normally manage to do that in about two minutes.
Go on I’ll admit I’ve never been in the habit of checking the reg number on the tax disc, the date yes, but generally if I saw the reg number on the disc it would be by pure chance.
I may start now I’ve read what happened to you though
The tax disc expired on my truck on the 31st March 14. Ryder still haven’t sent the new one to us yet, but I’m not bothered in the slightest. I’ll still keep driving it as its the responsibility of the owner to ensure the vehicle displays the correct and valid disc. It gets noted on my defect report every day.
PS. I’ve looked on the DVLA website and it has been taxed.
damoq:
The tax disc expired on my truck on the 31st March 14. Ryder still haven’t sent the new one to us yet, but I’m not bothered in the slightest. I’ll still keep driving it as its the responsibility of the owner to ensure the vehicle displays the correct and valid disc. It gets noted on my defect report every day.
PS. I’ve looked on the DVLA website and it has been taxed.
I’ve always thought it’s the drivers responsibility to make sure the vehicle is taxed if they are taking it out on the road??
Always check the date but never the registration, our vehicles have the tax/operators disc holder bent round so its facing the driver, unable to see it from the outside of the vehicle, I’ve often wondered if this was legal
damoq:
The tax disc expired on my truck on the 31st March 14. Ryder still haven’t sent the new one to us yet, but I’m not bothered in the slightest. I’ll still keep driving it as its the responsibility of the owner to ensure the vehicle displays the correct and valid disc. It gets noted on my defect report every day.
PS. I’ve looked on the DVLA website and it has been taxed.
I’ve always thought it’s the drivers responsibility to make sure the vehicle is taxed if they are taking it out on the road??
It is taxed. Just not displaying the new disc as we still haven’t received it from Ryder yet.
bradthinks:
I think the offence is not displaying a valid tax disc, it does not matter if its taxed or not.
Only an offence against the vehicle owner, not an employed driver! had that one before, so don’t worry about it.
On another point, does the abolition of tax discs include trucks in October?
It is not endorsable and it is the operators and not the drivers responsibility to ensure compliance - I would check it though if it is an item on a company supplied defect book or sheet. Same goes for o-licence and trailer discs.
As ‘not worth risking your licence’ crops up on here quite a lot, on that basis you want to focus the daily check time on the following, like tyre, brakes and steering, which have the most ramifications for drivers. These are the offences:
CU10 Using a vehicle with defective brakes 3
CU20 Causing or likely to cause danger by reason of use of unsuitable vehicle or using a vehicle with parts or accessories (excluding brakes, steering or tyres) in a dangerous condition 3
CU30 Using a vehicle with defective tyre(s) 3
CU40 Using a vehicle with defective steering 3
CU50 Causing or likely to cause danger by reason of load or passengers 3
On something like tyres, brakes and steering I would expect a good employer to reimburse the fine. I think ultimate responsibiity for roadworthiness lies with the operator but I think a lot may try to wriggle out of paying with the ‘should have been spotted on daily checks’ argument. It’s very subjective what would and wouldn’t be spotted on daily checks and provided a defect sheet was filled in at the start of the shift I think they are liable regardless of whether something was missed or not.
The majority of defects I rectify on maintenance inspections, that would prevent the vehicle being signed off to go back on the road have not been spotted at all on driver’s daily checks.
The driver commits the offence and so does the company. Have a look at use, cause and permit offences. If you dont display a current vel its a fpt. Its a non endorsable ticket, £60.
wildfire:
you won’t have to worry about it after October as you will no longer get tax disc to display
I know and my car is due in September, so I should theoretically be getting one of the last ever issued tax discs. Gonna keep it nice & take it on Dickinson’s Real Deal in 20 years to get my money back.
Presumably, that “CU10: Using a vehicle with defective brakes” would cover driving an artic with no ABS lead. I only ask because the hire unit in our yard at the moment has no ABS lead as someone pulled off a trailer with it hooked up on - let me see - Wednesday. I left a note for the manager about it and would have expected whoever drives it to have defected it by now. I’ve come in tonight and it’s still got no ABS lead. It’s been out every day and most nights since Wednesday …
If this is the case then surely you should be having a word with the drivers? Taking out a defective vehicle knowingly is going to catch someone out eventually. Daily check sheets?
Someone should be … it wasn’t me as I was off on Friday and never see the drivers anyway. And I’ve only been a manager for … let me see … two hours. Anyway, it’s going back to the hire place tomorrow. But if I’d been asked to drive it, it wouldn’t have moved out of the yard until I’d been given an ABS lead to fit.
