The tachograph is one of the most important pieces of equipment for HGV drivers, as it ensures that they don’t drive longer than is safe on Ireland’s roads. Internally storing driver, vehicle and geographic data and on the driver’s card, a tachograph is a highly technical device that requires regular calibration.

Vehicles become modified for a whole host of reasons - some even being altered before they’re officially registered. For example, an owner may want to convert their 4WD passenger car to a commercial vehicle, simply by taking out the safety belts and the back seats. Even though this is a relatively minor change, it still requires vehicle modification engineers reports to be created.

SQI is actually an abbreviation of the term Suitable Qualified Individual and the report in question is what’s known as a revenue declaration of conversion. There are a number of common situations where this documentation becomes applicable

Essentially, compliance plating is typically required when an internationally manufactured car is imported into Ireland. Rather than being something that replaces a foreign number plate, it’s actually a small metal plate that indicates to Irish registration authorities that the vehicle in question has demonstrated compliance with ADR regulations.

There are a number of things that Large Goods Vehicle (LGV), Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) and Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) drivers need to do to remain compliant and legally drive on Ireland’s roads. From HGV PCV to daily walk-around checks, these obligations are there for a reason - to keep everyone on the road safe. Another such obligation are seat belt certificates.

Annual HCV testing is an important component of Ireland’s mechanism for ensuring that all heavy goods vehicles are safe on the roads. However, responsible HGV operators complement this annual check with daily walkarounds and 12-week maintenance inspections carried out by companies like ours.

If you’re operating a commercial HGV on Ireland’s roads, then you are obliged to ensure that it’s safe and roadworthy at all times. One such measure is the periodic vehicle inspection that checks a wide range of vehicle elements vital to a well-running heavy goods vehicle.

If you operate a business that has a mixed fleet of Large Goods Vehicles (LGVs) and Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), you need to ensure that they’re well maintained and safe to be driven on Ireland’s roads. Part of your obligation in this regard is a yearly commercial vehicle testing (CVRT) that must be passed to continue driving legally. Carry on reading to find out more about it.

If you’re the owner of a jeep or a van in Ireland, then you’ll need to have a CVRT or Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test on an annual basis to ensure that it’s safe for use on the road. Regardless of whether you’re using it for business or for personal reasons, both vans and jeeps fall into the LCV category and as such, need a different test to the standard National Car Test (NCT).

At Argent Equipment Ltd, we offer the full range of commercial vehicle testing, so if you operate a truck and trailer or a heavy good vehicle fleet, we can help you stay legal on the road. We regularly create blogs just like this one to educate and inform our readers and in this one, we look at the need for a CVRT and not a NCT for motorhomes and campervans.

When driving on Ireland’s roads, both buses and ambulances need to be maintained and kept roadworthy in order to be legally driven. In order to achieve this, ambulance CVRT (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Testing) and bus CVRT needs to be carried out.

At Argent Equipment, we offer the full spectrum of testing services for all types of truck and other commercial vehicles. From our Dublin-based test centres, we are able to get you the certification you need in as little as an hour in some cases.

At Argent Equipment, we have been providing vehicle testing services to the Irish public for many years at our Dublin-based CVRT test centres and we create blogs like this one to help clarify why what we offer is important for anyone driving professionally in Ireland. Today we look at what an ADR test is and precisely what’s involved.

Generally speaking, the duration of an HCV CVRT is anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes and the assessor will evaluate the condition of components that are either accessible or visible. The test is still known to many as the Department of Environment (DoE) Test, but it essentially replaced it.

If you drive a light commercial vehicle that has a gross weight of less than 3,500kg, you need to have an annual LCV test carried out to ensure that it is safe and roadworthy.