Factors Affecting the Quality of Motor Vehicle Inspection

Vehicle owners will feel secure knowing that the inspectors and technical staff of the Inspection Center have high professional qualifications and are proficient in their work, so they can be confident in the inspection results. On the contrary, if the inspectors and technical staff have limited professional qualifications and are not proficient in their work, it will lead to inaccurate conclusions about the technical condition of the vehicle, which can lead to unfortunate traffic accidents due to technical errors or cause drivers and vehicle owners to spend unnecessary costs.

Polite and friendly service to drivers and vehicle owners is an issue that needs special attention, especially in conditions where there are many toll stations in the same area. Drivers and vehicle owners will be satisfied with toll stations whose staff are always cheerful and friendly, whereas they will be annoyed with toll stations whose staff are grumpy, irritable, and yell at customers.

- Tangibility

This criterion is demonstrated through the facilities and equipment of the inspection centers, the appearance of the inspectors and professional staff.

Drivers and vehicle owners will feel comfortable bringing their vehicles for inspection at inspection centers that are conveniently located and on the road. On the contrary, they are very hesitant to bring their vehicles for inspection at inspection centers that are far from national highways or have many obstacles on the way.

Inspection equipment plays an important role in inspection. Drivers and vehicle owners will feel secure about the inspection results when they see that the equipment of the Inspection Center is modern, synchronous, and regularly upgraded, maintained, and repaired.

In any face-to-face transaction, the appearance of the staff will create a good impression on customers. In particular, the appearance of professional staff who deal with drivers and vehicle owners is very important, in many cases they are the ones who bring revenue to the unit. The uniform of the inspectors and professional staff also creates an impression on drivers and vehicle owners about professionalism, organization and discipline.

- Economic

Any type of service must be concerned with economics. The service quality models presented above have shown the relationship between service quality and customer expectations, which in turn are based on the cost that customers pay. For vehicle inspection, it is the cost of one inspection.

Although the governments of each country have specific regulations on motor vehicles that must undergo technical safety inspection, if the cost of an inspection is high, some vehicles will not be inspected, will try to avoid traffic police, or may cause negative phenomena on the road when discovered.

In addition to paying fees and charges for inspection, sometimes some inspection centers also incur negative fees. Countries have strictly prohibited this practice, but there are still places that violate it and this also increases the cost of an inspection. Therefore, for good quality vehicles, many drivers and vehicle owners often go to inspection centers with less negative issues for inspection. On the contrary, for old, poor quality vehicles, drivers and vehicle owners often take their vehicles to inspection centers with negative issues, which can ignore technical errors, still issue technical safety and environmental protection certificates as well as inspection stamps.

In some developed countries, vehicle owners do not need to wait until the inspection period to bring their vehicles in. When they feel there is a technical problem, they bring their vehicles in to have their technical condition checked and receive advice from the inspection centers on which systems, assemblies, structures, and details of the vehicle need to be replaced, repaired, or maintained.

Awareness of the importance of traffic safety has made people pay attention to the work of checking the technical safety of vehicles.

For Vietnam, currently due to low income of people, low awareness of traffic safety and low self-awareness, there is almost no case where the vehicle owner has brought the vehicle for technical safety inspection when the inspection period is still long. In the coming time, when the country's economy develops, people's income increases, self-awareness increases, there will certainly be a large number of vehicle owners bringing their vehicles for technical safety inspection when the inspection period is still long.

This criterion is determined by the cost the customer has to pay for one inspection.

- Empathy

The customers of the inspection centers include many classes with different social status and cultural levels because for developed countries, motor vehicles in general and cars in particular are personal vehicles. Therefore, inspection officers need to pay attention to their customers, understand their circumstances, lives, aspirations to serve customers in the best and most appropriate way. This has contributed to creating customer loyalty, helping to maintain and develop customers.

- Sense of responsibility

This criterion is first of all the enthusiasm of the inspection staff with the driver and vehicle owner. In addition, the field of motor vehicle inspection is not like some other services that only care about the time of serving customers. Motor vehicle inspection must ensure the technical condition of the vehicle when traveling on the road after inspection, contributing to reducing traffic accidents, reducing environmental pollution, ensuring a clean living environment. The leaders and inspectors directly performing the inspection are responsible before the law for the inspection results of the stage they are in charge of.

1.4. Factors affecting the quality of motor vehicle inspection

1.4.1. Factors external to the inspection organization

1.4.1.1. Legal environment

State legal documents have a great influence on the quality of motor vehicle inspection. Depending on each country, motor vehicle inspection work can be assigned to State organizations, enterprises or private individuals, or can be a combination of these organizations. Regardless of which organization is in charge of carrying out motor vehicle inspection, the State still plays a role in managing this activity.

Countries have different economic, cultural and social conditions, and people's incomes also have quite large differences. This affects the quality of motor vehicles. Developed countries often have strict regulations on technical safety standards and environmental protection, especially on the issue of usage period and emission standards.

Many developed countries regulate the age of vehicles from 7 to 10 years, emission standards meet EURO 4, EURO 5 standards, while many countries have not regulated the age of vehicles, emission standards are still only at EURO 2 level.

The improved quality of vehicles is also a factor that improves the quality of motor vehicle inspection, because then the inspection will take place quickly, there will be fewer technical errors, vehicle owners and drivers do not have to spend time fixing them, thus creating comfort between drivers, vehicle owners and inspection officers because the inspection time is quick but still ensures the accuracy of the inspection results, making drivers and vehicle owners satisfied.

For underdeveloped countries, technical safety and environmental protection standards are relaxed. This affects the quality of motor vehicles and therefore also affects the quality of motor vehicle inspection because when inspecting old, dilapidated, low-quality vehicles, there will often be many technical errors, drivers and vehicle owners must fix, repair, and maintain for re-inspection, which will be costly and time-consuming. This in some cases causes dissatisfaction among drivers and vehicle owners, and sometimes there are disagreements between drivers and vehicle owners and inspection officers. Some countries also stipulate that vehicles must be maintained and repaired before inspection and must present maintenance and repair invoices when coming for inspection.

Supervision by state agencies also affects the quality of motor vehicle inspection. Any activity requires supervision by specialized management agencies. If the supervision is not good, it will lead to negligence in inspection work, affecting the quality of inspection.

1.4.1.2. Cultural and social environment

Cultural and social factors of each country and region also affect the quality of vehicle inspection. In developed countries, people think that vehicle inspection is to get technical advice, to point out the limitations of the vehicle so that there is a plan for prevention, repair, and replacement to ensure the safety of the vehicle when traveling on the road. Passengers always criticize and boycott vehicles.

Old and dilapidated public vehicles, lacking amenities. That is the pressure for vehicle owners to upgrade, repair, and replace their vehicles. When people have a level of understanding, they will care about their vehicles and pay attention to maintenance and repair work, accepting the advice of the inspection agency, not showing signs of bribing inspection officers to ignore technical errors, contributing to improving the quality of inspection is also improving the quality of vehicles. On the contrary, in some underdeveloped countries, of which Vietnam is an example, most drivers and vehicle owners still think that vehicle inspection is mainly to get inspection stamps and certificates of technical safety and environmental protection, and pay little attention to the advice of inspection officers on maintenance and repair issues. When vehicles do not meet standards and need to be repaired for re-inspection, many people find every way, even using pressure from above, to influence the inspection officers to let the vehicles meet standards. This requires the skillful but determined work of the inspection staff. Hopefully, in the coming time, along with the development of the economy, people's awareness will change, vehicles will be more focused and quality will be increasingly improved.

1.4.1.3. Network of Inspection Centers

Inspection Centers can be established by the State, enterprises or private individuals but are all under the management of the State. Technical safety inspection and emission testing can be conducted at the same Inspection Center or at different Inspection Centers. Inspection Centers in the system are networked together, thus facilitating the inspection work of Inspection Centers as well as the management of specialized agencies and vehicle owners.

The arrangement of the Inspection Centers has a great influence on the quality of motor vehicle inspection. If arranged properly, it will help drivers and vehicle owners not to have to take their vehicles too far for inspection. If the Inspection Centers are located near major highways with high traffic density, they will meet the inspection needs of drivers and vehicle owners, especially heavy vehicles that are not allowed to enter large cities.

In addition, it is necessary to forecast the number of motor vehicles in the area in the coming time to be able to build inspection centers according to the scale with a reasonable number of inspection lines. If the number of inspection lines is too small, it will only meet the current demand and will not be suitable for the increase in vehicles in the future. If the number of inspection lines is too large, it will waste the operating capacity of inspection machines and equipment, especially since the investment in inspection equipment for an inspection line is not small.

1.4.1.4. Awareness of drivers and vehicle owners.

The awareness of drivers and vehicle owners affects the quality of inspection. Regularly taking care of the vehicle will help the inspection to be quick, without wasting time on repairs, adjustments and second inspections. If drivers and vehicle owners do not pay regular attention to maintenance and repair, when bringing the vehicle for inspection, it will take time to repair, adjust, and even have to take the vehicle to repair and maintenance facilities far from the center to fix it, so the inspection time will be long and that also causes frustration for drivers and vehicle owners. There are drivers and vehicle owners who have the knowledge to bring their vehicles for repair and maintenance, but there are also drivers and vehicle owners who beg the inspector to ignore technical errors without fixing them. Even between drivers and vehicle owners, there are different perceptions. Most drivers want vehicle owners to invest in keeping their vehicles in the best possible technical condition, while many vehicle owners do not want to spend money to invest in their vehicles.

In developed countries, people's income is high, the number of private vehicles is large, people's awareness is very high, there are countries and territories that do not require periodic vehicle inspection, but vehicle owners still regularly bring their vehicles to the Inspection Center to check the technical condition of the vehicle to find defects and damage of the vehicle for maintenance and repair to maintain good technical condition of the vehicle when traveling on the road, ensuring the safety of people's lives and property, keeping the air clean.

1.4.2. Internal factors

1.4.2.1. Facilities and equipment of the Inspection Centers

The facilities of the inspection centers have a very important influence on the quality of motor vehicle inspection. Customers will be happy and satisfied when bringing their vehicles for inspection to inspection centers that are spacious, clean, convenient for vehicles to enter and exit, and equipped with modern and convenient facilities. On the contrary, customers will feel uncomfortable when coming to inspection facilities that are narrow, dirty, difficult for vehicles to enter and exit for inspection, have outdated and inaccurate inspection equipment, have no waiting room for drivers or vehicle owners, or have cramped waiting rooms.

In the Inspection Centers, inspections are carried out at different locations in the inspection house according to each stage. Motor vehicles that meet technical safety and environmental protection requirements will be granted a certificate or accompanied by an inspection sticker affixed to the windshield in the cabin. This is the basis for confirming that the vehicle ensures technical safety when traveling on the road. Vehicles that do not meet technical safety and emission standards will have to be repaired, maintained or adjusted and then brought back for re-inspection.

According to the recommendations of the International Automobile Inspection Organization CITA, the Construction Motor Vehicle Inspection Center must ensure the following requirements:

- The design should have adequate space for inspectors to perform inspection operations accurately and safely.

- Provided with full heat dissipation and ventilation system.

- There is a spacious parking lot for vehicles waiting for inspection.

- There is a separate restroom system for customers waiting for inspection and officers and employees of the inspection agency.

The testing equipment must comply with the European Directive 96/96 EC or the corresponding national and international regulations. In case of lack of some equipment as specified, replacement equipment of the same type must be adequate and suitable for performing the testing steps.

Specifically, the inspection agency must be equipped with at least the following equipment:

- Weight scale.

- Roller type brake tester.

- Brake acceleration measuring device.

- Lift or inspection platform equipped with moving vehicle jack and lighting system.

- Playback detection device (must be able to check vehicles with a total load of more than 3500 KG).

- Front light tester, can be mounted on rails or suitable on parking surfaces.

- Smoke meter suitable for measuring diesel engine smoke.

- Exhaust gas analysis equipment must be able to measure at least CO concentration (%) and evaluate the exhaust gas conversion system.

- The pressure gauge is suitable for measuring the pneumatic pressure in the operating pressure brake system.

In addition, the inspection agency must have its own auxiliary equipment to perform specialized inspection steps. Inspection equipment must meet the requirements for accuracy as well as comply with the requirements of legal documents and relevant regulations. Measuring equipment must be used properly and ensure the required accuracy when conducting measurements.

No matter how modern the inspection equipment is, if it is not regularly maintained, inspected and preserved, it will not maintain its operational accuracy. CITA has regulations on inspection between calibration periods:

Table 1.1. Inspection equipment testing cycle

STT