Vans & fleets
Keeping local businesses moving.
We work with local trades, couriers and companies to keep vans and fleets running — and earning.
Need reliable servicing for vans or commercial vehicles? We look after vans, pickups and light commercials for local trades, couriers and businesses — from one van to a whole fleet.
- Class 7 MOTsFor larger vans and commercials, alongside Class 4 for cars and small vans.
- Servicing & inspectionsOngoing maintenance on a schedule that suits your business.
- RepairsBrakes, suspension, exhausts, clutches and engine work, using quality parts.
- BodyworkDents, scrapes and paint — keeping your vans looking professional.
Tell us what you run and how you’d like it looked after, and we’ll work out a schedule that keeps your vehicles on the road.
What the law asks of you
A van is held to the same MOT timetable as a car — first test at three years old, then every year — but which test it takes depends on its design gross weight. Up to 3,000 kg it is a class 4, the same as a car. Over 3,000 kg and up to 3,500 kg it is a class 7. We do both, so a mixed fleet does not need two garages.
DVSA caps the test fee at £54.85 for class 4 and £58.60 for class 7, excluding VAT. Those are ceilings, not our price — ring us for that.
The penalties that catch businesses out
These are the ones worth knowing, because they land on the operator as readily as the driver:
- No valid MOT — a fine of up to £1,000
- Using a vehicle in an unroadworthy condition — up to £2,500 and 3 penalty points
- Over a permitted axle weight — up to £300, or a court summons
- Tyres below the legal limit — up to £2,500 and 3 penalty points, per tyre
Three rules people get wrong
Speed limits. A standard van is limited to 50 mph on a single carriageway and 60 mph on a dual carriageway, where a car doing the same journey may do 60 and 70. A car-derived van keeps the car limits. Plenty of drivers have never been told the difference.
Licences. An ordinary car licence covers a van up to 3,500 kg, or 4,250 kg if it is zero-emission. Anyone who passed their test after 1 January 1997 needs extra categories to go above 3,500 kg or to tow a heavy trailer.
Operator licences. You do not need one to run vans in the UK. You do need a standard international operator licence, and a transport manager, to carry goods for hire or reward on international journeys in anything over 2.5 tonnes — that has applied since 21 May 2022 and it caught out a lot of small couriers.
The daily walkaround check
The cheapest maintenance there is. DVSA publishes a walkaround check for van drivers, and running it takes a couple of minutes before the first journey of the day:
- Front view — mirrors, cameras and glass
- Windscreen washers and wipers
- Dashboard warning lights
- Steering
- Horn
- Brakes
- Seats and seat belts
- Lights and indicators
- Fluids, fuel and oil
- Battery
- Bodywork and doors
- Tyres and wheels
- Load
- Diesel exhaust fluid (AdBlue)
- Exhaust
- Alternative fuel systems and isolation
- Number plate
- Tow bars and trailers
- Other equipment
A dangerous defect means the van does not go out until it is fixed. If you hold an operator's licence, driver defect reports and safety inspection records have to be kept for at least 15 months. Checklist from DVSA's van drivers' daily walkaround check.
Why vans wear out faster
A van does a harder job than a car of the same age. It carries weight all day, which works the brakes, springs, bushes and tyres far harder than an empty car ever does. Courier and trade work means constant stopping and starting, short cold runs and a lot of idling — the worst possible life for a diesel particulate filter and for a battery.
So the mileage on the clock understates how much work the van has done. It is worth booking by time as well as distance, and worth mentioning what the van actually does when you book, because a van doing twenty drops a day in town needs looking at differently from one doing motorway miles.
Talk to us about your vans
Vans & fleets: common questions
Do you do class 7 MOTs?
Yes — class 7 for goods vehicles over 3,000 kg and up to 3,500 kg design gross weight, and class 4 for cars and smaller vans. A mixed fleet can come to the one place.
When does a new van need its first MOT?
At three years old, then every year after that — the same timetable as a car. You can test it up to a month minus a day early and keep the same renewal date, which is worth doing so any repairs do not take the van off the road unexpectedly.
Do I need an operator's licence for my vans?
Not for running vans in the UK. You do need a standard international operator licence, and a transport manager, to carry goods for hire or reward on international journeys in a vehicle over 2.5 tonnes. That has applied since 21 May 2022.
Can you service several vans on a schedule?
Yes. Tell us what you run, roughly what mileage each does and what the work involves, and we will set out a schedule that spreads them sensibly rather than landing them all in the same week.
Do you do bodywork on vans?
Yes — dents, panels, paint and insurance work, through Tannadice Autobody. A tidy van is your advert, and kerb rash on a sliding door is the most common job we see.
What should I tell you when I book a van in?
What it carries and what sort of journeys it does, not just the mileage. Twenty drops a day around town is a very different life from motorway miles, and it changes what we look at first.
Ready when you are