There’s a lot of red tape when it comes to MOT testing.

From the layout of your site to the equipment you use, you need to be sure you’ve got all the right parts in place before you commit to investing your cash.

So to help you get started – and so you know what’s ahead – we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to setting up shop as a Class 7 MOT test centre.

No matter how you go about it, lifting a 10-tonne (or heavier) vehicle is serious business.

And despite all the rigorous testing and meticulous design that comes with 40 years of supplying our flagship Mobile Column Lifts, there’s one universal truth that applies to every workplace in the country: A tool is only as safe as the person using it.

When you’re working with vehicles, space is at a premium.

And unless you’re running a workshop in an expansive warehouse premises, you need to squeeze the most value out of every precious square metre you have.

So how can you make sure that every inch of your workshop is being put to good use on a daily basis?

With the kind of equipment that’s flexible, mobile, and adaptable to different spaces and different levels of demand.

Here’s how mobile equipment can help to give you higher capacity, greater productivity, and the versatility you need to match a wider range of jobs and contracts:

Although the UK isn’t known for its blinding hot summers, your air con system is usually used more often than think! Whether it’s cold in the morning and you need warming up, or it’s a hot summers day and you need cooling down.

The unpredictability of the weather means you need certainty in your air con – you never know when your drivers will need it, and you never know how much use it’s going to get.

In fact, long periods without use can actually be detrimental to the functioning of air conditioning systems, with damage to seals and leakage being a particular problem.

But here’s the good news:

Servicing your fleet’s air conditioning has never been easier.

We’ve just launched a full range of brand-new tools from Waeco to help you service your fleet’s A/C systems – from fully automatic service units to the analysis kits you need to keep your vehicles and your drivers safe.

Here’s what you need to know:

When your workshop was young and your fleet was small, it probably made sense to outsource your brake testing to a test centre with its own brake tester.

Equipment can be costly, with an up-front investment that takes time to recover – and it’s not always clear how long you’ll have to wait to start seeing savings.

But as your company grows (and your fleet grows with it), the long-term costs of outsourced tests can start to outweigh the short-term costs of buying your own brake testers.

For every business with a fleet, there’s a point in their journey where the investment makes sense – and we’re here to help you find it.

So, whether it’s an in-ground brake tester or mobile version you’re thinking about investing in, here are the 9 questions you need to ask before you can justify bringing your brake testing in-house:

We’ve been in the mobile column lift game for a long time. (41 years, if you’re counting!)

We’re proud of our exceptional quality and the robust safety features we put into every lift we build. But we’ve seen first-hand just how far and fast the technology has progressed in that time.

Our latest mobile column lifts (like the T8DC and T8AC) are built on that progression – taking those same robust features and high-quality builds, and improving on them in almost every way.

And if you’re currently running a workshop with our RG, MVL, SVL or Series IV lifts, you could save some serious money by upgrading through our part exchange scheme.

Here’s everything you need to know:

When you’re running a vehicle workshop, it’s all too easy to focus on the big-ticket machinery – the lifts, the pits, and the high-tech testing equipment.

But if you want to run the tightest ship you can (with efficiency and safety as a top priority) you need to take care of the everyday tasks, too.

And when you’re servicing vehicles on a daily basis, oils and fluids can become a serious hassle without the right equipment.

So to help you get to grips with the finer points of oil and waste oil management, we’ve put together the top 5 pieces of oil-management kit that every vehicle workshop needs.

Explore how you can reduce your carbon footprint through in-house testing with our latest podcast celebrating Earth Day. 

Our latest 2-part podcast special discusses how our industry can help save the planet. We cover hot topics such as emission standards, how you can analyse your emissions and how to cut your emissions.

Testing for emissions isn’t just about hitting environmental targets – it’s an essential health check of your vehicles’ engines that can help your business to save money on fuel and maintenance.

But while the smoke meters themselves are built to be user-friendly, understanding the readings isn’t as simple as it seems.

Here’s everything you need to know about how a Diesel Smoke Meter works – and how to make sure your vehicles are compliant: