London, UK: The Road Haulage Association is inviting hauliers that operate in London to fill in a survey to assess if they are ready for the introduction of the Driver Vision Standard (DVS) in October this year.
The RHA is also sharing an “explainer” to help firms operating HGVs in London understand new safety equipment technical specifications.
Hauliers operating trucks of more than 12-tonne gross weight must comply with new DVS Progressive Safe System (PSS) criteria in the capital from 28 October.
The RHA has secured more clarity on the technical specifications from Loughborough University who designed the new standard on behalf of Transport for London (TfL). This came after many hauliers told the RHA that it was not clear what equipment they needed to fit to comply.
The Loughborough University team says that this document will help operators upgrading their trucks to better understand which systems comply with TfL’s new standard.
The team stresses that it aims to clarify the meaning of the already-published TfL technical specifications in plain language and the reasoning behind them – and the explainer does not set out any new requirements.
The team recommends that hauliers test equipment on an operational vehicle before investing to be satisfied that all use cases for the trucks are included in driver testing – it offers advice on this aspect.
The RHA is still concerned over the timeframes TfL has set the industry to be fully compliant.
“We are fully committed to helping implement the new standard smoothly and improve safety on our roads, but there are more than 200,000 trucks in-scope needing upgrading amid concerns about availability, volume, affordability and reliability of equipment.
“We’re therefore urging TfL to extend the implementation grace period for at least 12 months to help operators upgrade.
“We expect officials in London will release a market readiness report in July which will help TfL better understand this picture.
“In the meantime, we want you to tell us how ready you are for the 28 October PSS launch.”
The deadline for the survey is Friday 28 June.
