Dealers are being urged to provide more useful information to fleets in safety checks carried out when servicing cars and vans.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck.

So says fleet software specialist FleetCheck, adding that the current checks, which tend to use traffic light or estimated percentage wear indicators, are of limited practical use.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, said: “The problem is – and we speak to fleets regularly who complain about this – that the information provided is of very limited value. Take brake pads, for example. The dealer may report to the customer that these are 70% worn but they give no indication to the fleet about when they are likely to actually to need replacing.

“They present the fleet with a Health and Safety problem but no solution.”

Instead Golding added that dealers need to start giving more useful information to fleets by, instead of just saying that the pads are 70% worn, stating clearly that they are likely to need checking again or replacing in an estimated three months or 5,000 miles, for example.

“This would be genuinely useful information for fleets and, of course, would be of advantage to the dealer, who is much more likely to capture the work that has been flagged up if there is a timescale indicated. This applies especially to jobs such as tyres and pads that many dealers tend to lose to fast-fits.”

Providing a further complication for leased vehicles were leased, the safety checks themselves are often passed to the leasing company rather than the fleet.

“This is an issue because, as explained, the safety check has a legal status. If it never actually reaches the fleet and there is a resulting accident that triggers an HSE investigation, then the audit trail of paperwork breaks down. It is an area that needs addressing,” Golding summarised.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.