Hauliers have been told to ensure they have all the the necessary signage on their vehicles operating in London. The RHA warns that Transport for London has revoked permits from companies whose zero star-rated HGVs did not have blind spot stickers on the back of the trailer.
As this official Transport for London guide explains, all zero star-rated vehicles operating in London need to meet certain requirements. One of those is to have “external pictorial stickers and markings” that “must be displayed
on vehicles to warn vulnerable road users of the hazards around the vehicle.”
One of the places where the strikers need to be placed is on the back of the trailer, as shown in the image below:
It is this requirement that the RHA says hauliers are falling foul of:
Operators have told us that some third-party trailers they pick up don’t have the correct DVS signage on the back which is causing problems when they get stopped; a number of vehicles stopped by TfL enforcement officers have had their permits revoked for not having rear signs.
As the RHA explains, some rental companies are telling operators that the stickers are not necessary, which isn’t true:
Even if a permit has been granted on the basis of evidence photos of a tractor and trailer in situ with a warning sign, all trailers used with that tractor need signs. It’s not helping that some rental/leasing companies have been telling operators that they don’t need the signs. This is not true. TfL assure us they’re working with the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) to address this.
The announcement from the RHA comes after the end of the DVS standard grace period on the 30th of May. HGVs now entering London without a Direct Vision Standard safety permit are liable to receive a Penalty Charge Notice.
Interestingly, Automatic number-plate recognition technology shows that almost 70% of vehicles on the grace period list have not entered London at all since 1 March, despite being free to do so. It thus appears that the new rules and requirements have put road transport companies off deliveries in and around London.
Photo credit: Robert Lamb / Geograph UK + tfl.gov.uk (note – this image is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to imply Eddie Stobart has had a DVS permit revoked)