Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) have designed a four day intensive course to upskill heavy vehicle testers so that they can inspect tractors. The inspection process will require candidates to carry out extensive testing, including a hand-brake procedure that involves the use of a special ramp and adherence to a safety protocol. Following this, testers will be expected to complete a written exam.

“Up until now, tractors haven’t even been on the radar in terms of testing and road safety. Under the new EU Directive, people who have one of these vehicles and who use it for commercial purposes will be obliged to get the tractor tested before they can take it out on a public road,” Joe Lawless, head of department of Polymer, Mechanical, Civil Engineering and Trades at AIT said. He added that there are 650 heavy vehicle testers who need to be supplied with adequate training.

“Each trainee tester is assigned a tractor with a variety of different faults that they will be required to identify. Everything is computerised. It’s quite similar to the NCT process in that respect. Our heavy vehicle testers will have a range of equipment at their disposal to test the tractors,” Lawless added.

AIT has had the RSA tender to deliver Commerical Vehicle Roadworthiness (CVR) Training for the last six years.

The EU Directive, which comes into effect this month, will require new vehicles to be tested after four years and every second year after that.

Read more

Tractor test - but not for farmers