From 2016 to 2017, around 428,000 HGVs were tested to ensure they are safe enough to operate on UK roads. Of that number, around 44,000 failed with a final failure rate of 10.3% after retests. Trucks older than 12 years had a failure rate of 33.5%! HGVs are on the road day after day with a lot of wear and tear inflicted on the vehicles, therefore ensuring that they are working correctly is incredibly important. Here are ten of the most common lorry test failures.

• Headlamp Aim - 4% of lorries failed this test in because of headlight misalignment. Use a headlamp beam checker to ensure your lamps are shining correctly.
• Lamps - HGV lamp related issues accounted for around 3.8% of failures. Lamps including headlamps, fog lamps, stop lamps and side marker lamps should be fitted correctly and producing the correct colour and brightness.
• Brake System Components - 3.2% of vehicles failed this test in 2016/17 because of missing components or defective operation. The importance of working brakes is obvious.
• Service Brake Performance - the service brake is tested according to the type of braking system used (air pressure, vacuum, hydraulic etc). 2.3% of trucks failed this test due to brake mechanisms sticking on wheels, brake effort fluctuations etc.
• Steering Mechanism - responsible for 1.9% of vehicle failures, according to the DVSA the steering mechanism mustn't be stiff or rough, with no excessive deformities or wear.
• Suspension - 1.6% of trucks failed this test because of damage to the components (fractures, corrosion, wear) or missing parts.
• Parking Brake Performance - 1.1% of HGVs failed this test because of the lack of braking effort applied to wheels. The importance of working parking brakes cannot be understated.
• Wiring - the main reasons for failures include poor insulation, battery related leaks, damage and the risk of fire or injury. This accounted for 1% of failures in 2016/17.
• Speedometer & Tachograph - 0.9% of vehicles failed this test last year. Tachograph and speedometer seals must be in place, calibrated and components must be free from damage.
• Hazard Warning - 0.8% of lorries failed this test because of hazard warning lamps not operating correctly when the engine was stopped, failure of individual indicator lamps and dashboard tell-tales not fitted or inoperative.

Have you experienced a HGV test failure? What do you find fails the most often?