How Much Do You Trust Your Maintenance Provider?
In order to obtain an Operator’s Licence, applicants confirm that records of maintenance and repairs will be kept for 15 months. It is therefore of no surprise that a significant number of operators routinely file away their PMI reports, so as to comply with this requirement, without any form of detailed examination. This, however, can put your Operator’s Licence at risk.
Even when maintenance is contracted out, it is you, the operator, who remains responsible for ensuring that your vehicles are fit, safe, serviceable and roadworthy. As a careful, competent and risk-averse operator you will want to quality-assure your maintenance provider. Similarly you will also want to know that appropriate brake-testing is being carried out and be satisfied that your maintenance provider is not too busy so as to cause you to exceed your inspection frequency. You will also be using the PMI reports to establish whether your drivers are failing to properly carry out their daily defect inspections.
If your maintenance contractor is not providing you with appropriate and properly completed PMI reports, this is an issue which must also be dealt with. You may wish to meet with your contractor to discuss the issue or change to a different maintenance provider. Either way doing nothing is not an option – if you allow your maintenance provider to fail to properly complete the PMI forms your licence is at risk.
