Maintenance & inspection
What is a driver defect report?
A driver defect report is the written record a driver makes of a fault found on a vehicle, whether at the walkaround check or during the day. It must be passed to the operator and its rectification recorded.
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<img src="https://fleetoptix.co.uk/glossary/driver-defect-report/diagram.svg" alt="driver defect report — diagram from FleetOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://fleetoptix.co.uk/glossary/driver-defect-report">What is a driver defect report?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://fleetoptix.co.uk">FleetOptix</a>
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</figure>The report is one half of a pair. On its own it shows a fault was found; with the rectification record attached it shows the system worked. An examiner reads them together, and a report with no closure reads worse than no report at all.
Defects found during the working day count. A fault that develops after the morning check is exactly the case the system exists for, and there needs to be a route for reporting it that does not depend on getting back to the depot.
Where a defect is serious enough that the vehicle should not be driven, the report is also the decision point. Who has authority to take a vehicle off the road, and whether they are reachable at six in the morning, is a real operational question rather than a procedural one.
What goes wrong in practice
- Reports closed with 'rectified' and no detail of what was actually done or by whom.
- In-service defects reported the next morning because there was no way to report them from the road.
- A driver under pressure recording a defect as minor so the vehicle can run, with nobody reviewing the pattern.