Free Driver Daily Walkaround Check Sheet (UK): PDF & Excel

Every day, before first use, someone must walk around the vehicle and check it's roadworthy. For O-licence holders, the DVSA expects a written record including nil-defect reports where you require them. This is that sheet.

⬇ Download PDF (print-ready)⬇ Download Excel (editable)

Free for use within your organisation. No sign-up required. If it saves you time, a link back to this page is always appreciated.

What's in the template

• Daily first-use check: the standard item list (lights, tyres, brakes, steering, mirrors, load security, tachograph…) with driver sign-off
• Defect report & rectification record: every defect reported in writing, assessed, and signed back into service

How to use it

One line per vehicle per day. Defects go on the rectification sheet the moment they're found. A safety-critical defect means the vehicle doesn't move until it's signed off. Keep records at least 15 months (DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness). Traffic commissioners ask for them at public inquiry.

Full guidance: daily walkaround checks and fleet inspection records.

Who must keep this record

Anyone running vehicles under an operator's licence. The duty sits with the operator under the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, and the Senior Traffic Commissioner's Statutory Documents (Document 2, maintenance arrangements) make plain that daily checks must be recorded. It also sits with the driver personally: the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 mean a driver who takes out a defective vehicle can be prosecuted whatever the operator's paperwork says. Agency and hired-in drivers use your system too, to the same standard as your own staff, and their walkaround training should be documented like everyone else's.

How long to keep it

At least 15 months, and readily available for inspection. That covers the daily check records, the defect reports and the repairs that close them out, kept together so the audit trail is unbroken. Many operators keep them longer, and digital storage makes that straightforward. Electronic records are acceptable to DVSA provided entries are timestamped, attributable to an identified driver and tamper-evident. Note that tachograph records run to a separate regime with its own download intervals and retention periods.

What a completed entry looks like

One record per vehicle per day, made before first use rather than written up at the end of the shift. A completed line carries:

• Date and time: 12/03/2026, 06:15, before the first journey.
• Vehicle: registration, plus the trailer number where one is coupled.
• Driver: name and signature. One driver checking three vehicles makes three separate records, not one entry covering all of them.
• Defect found: "Nearside rear marker lamp not working." Nil returns get recorded too, but a sheet that never shows a defect attracts questions, because bulbs, minor leaks and tyre damage happen in every working fleet.
• Assessment and rectification: roadworthy or not, then the job card reference, the repair date and the signature putting the vehicle back into service.

FAQs

How long do we have to keep walkaround check records?

At least 15 months, and they must be readily available for inspection. Keep the defect report and the repair record filed with the check they relate to, so an investigator can trace a defect from report to fix. Many operators keep them longer as protection against delayed claims or investigations.

Can one signature cover several vehicles checked the same morning?

No. Each vehicle needs its own check record with its own timestamp and signature. A single entry covering several vehicles will not satisfy DVSA, even where one driver genuinely checked them all before different journeys.

Do we need a check on days the vehicle is not used?

A check is required every day the vehicle is used, weekends and bank holidays included. If it is not used, no check is needed, but your records should clearly show the vehicle was not in use rather than simply leaving a gap in the dates. Unexplained gaps read as missing records.

Are paper sheets still acceptable, or do we need an app?

Paper is perfectly acceptable and still widely used across UK transport. Digital systems are equally acceptable to DVSA provided entries are timestamped, attributable to a named driver and tamper-evident. The right system is the one every driver actually completes, every day, for every vehicle.

Sources

gov.ukDVSA: Guide to Maintaining Roadworthinessgov.ukCarry out daily checks: lorries, buses and coaches