Logistics UK Compliance Report 2026: HGV test pass rates improve, collisions fell again in 2024
Launched at Logistics UK's Transport Manager conference in Falkirk, the Compliance Report 2026 shows HGV annual test failure rates, collision numbers and DVSA risk ratings all continuing to move in operators' favour, even as the trade body flags rising costs and economic pressure on the sector.
Logistics UK published its Compliance Report 2026 on 8 October at its Transport Manager conference in Falkirk, setting out improved HGV testing, safety and risk-rating performance across the sector.
According to Transport Engineer, the report found the HGV annual test initial failure rate fell from 10.4% to 10.0% in 2025/26, down from 32.4% in 2008/09, while final failure rates dropped from 7.1% to 6.7%, compared with 17.7% in 2008/09.
Across Great Britain, reported accidents involving HGVs fell by 5.3% between 2023 and 2024, with casualties down 4.6% over the same period, in line with Department for Transport road casualty statistics. Over the longer term, reported HGV collisions have fallen 74% since 2004, with casualties down almost 75%, the report says. The report's collision figures run to 2024: the Department for Transport's final 2025 statistics, published in July, show the number of HGVs involved in reported collisions rose 8% to 3,517, and casualties in collisions involving HGVs rose 5.9% to 4,332.
The proportion of operators placed in DVSA's green, low-risk Operator Compliance Risk Score band rose from 66.5% to 69.1%, while those achieving the top blue-band rating increased from 0.6% to 0.7%. The report notes a strong link between compliance ratings and testing performance: 98.7% of blue-band operators passed their tests first time.
Logistics UK chief executive Ben Fletcher said the findings showed the sector continuing to make progress "against the backdrop of an increasingly complex operating environment, with rising costs and economic uncertainty adding pressure," crediting investment in tools and technologies with giving operators "greater oversight of UK fleets."
Logistics UK attributed the improvement in collision and casualty numbers to advances in vehicle technology, enhanced driver training and more sophisticated fleet safety management, including ADAS, with Fletcher adding that continued investment in safer road layouts, targeted enforcement and industry-led safety initiatives had also contributed to the downward trend.
The report draws on data from DVSA, the Department for Transport, the Department for Infrastructure and the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, alongside Logistics UK's own quarterly Logistics Performance Tracker survey and input from its Member Advice Centre. Its chapters cover operator licensing trends, tests and inspections, public inquiries, the transition to alternatively fuelled vehicles, HGV road traffic accidents, and HGV drivers and vocational entitlement.
Correction, 16 October 2026: the headline said collisions "keep falling". The report's figures run to 2024; Department for Transport statistics for 2025 show a rise, which we have added. We have also made clear that the figures cover Great Britain.
How THRIVE sources and checks its stories · Corrections, and how to report an error
FleetCheck and VDO to digitise tacho infringement handling at FORS 2026
How often should you check driver licences? UK fleet practice
Tachograph breaches cut operator's HGV licence from 12 vehicles to six
The Tuesday briefing
The week's fleet numbers and news, every Tuesday morning. Free.
One email a week. Unsubscribe in a click.
Named in this story? You have a right of reply: email hello@thrivefleet.co.uk and a challenged claim will be marked under review while we check it.
Got a story, or a question about this one? Contact the newsroom. We read everything that comes in. With the volume of fleet news, not everything can run, but a story with a number, a date or a decision in it stands a good chance.