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2020.10.30
Interview with Tord Fornander, chairman of the Vehicle Inspection Industry – part of SWETIC
Tord Fornander is chairman of the Swedish Vehicle Inspection Industry (FBB) and a board member of the Inspection Committee that the Swedish Transport Agency formed this year. In addition, he is also vice president, production manager and technical manager at Opus Bilprovning AB. He lives in a villa in Karlskoga with his partner and has two sons aged 17 and 21. Tord has a great interest in motorsport, especially rallycross and motocross.
How long have you been chairman of FBB?
– I have been chairman since the start of 2014. There was previously another industry organization. However, not all inspection bodies were members there. There was a need to gather everyone in a common one. Then Dekra Automotive came up with the idea that FBB should be formed under SWETIC at Teknikföretagens Branschgrupper.
What issues are important for you as chairman to pursue?
– There is no doubt that quality issues were also important during the monopoly period. The industry wants to ensure that vehicles receive the same assessment, regardless of which company and station they go to. It is quality and the environment that we work primarily with within our Technical Committees.
Then it is also important to try to influence politicians and authorities in the right direction. Our basic mission is to contribute to road safety through vehicle inspection and to minimize emissions from traffic that are harmful to the climate and health. We also see a great need to keep up with the rapid technological development in both the environment and safety.
What issues is FBB working on today?
– The introduction of EU Regulation 2019/621, which entered into force on 1 June 2020, requires vehicle manufacturers to provide vehicle-specific information required for inspection and flying inspections to inspection bodies.
The purpose of the regulation is for the information to facilitate the inspection. The regulation itself is a step in the right direction. However, there are major challenges to succeeding. First, the vehicle manufacturers are not ready with a solution that will allow them to comply with the regulation, and second, the regulation is written in an unclear way. It will probably take a long time before a solution is developed. However, we are not alone. All countries in Europe have the same problem.
Then we are also working on the 2021 industry report where we will focus on the future vehicle fleet, environment and road safety.
Do you see any challenges for the industry?
– Yes, that the development of vehicle technology is outpacing the development of regulations. Today, for example, it is not possible to carry out a special inspection of rechargeable cars to examine whether the battery has any damage. We cannot introduce new, much-needed elements in the inspection on our own, but need to comply with current regulations.
How does the industry view the new technological developments taking place with electric and autonomous vehicles?
– We view the development positively. It will be necessary for us to work together both nationally and internationally with manufacturers and regulatory authorities such as the Swedish Transport Agency and MSB. We also receive a lot of support from CITA, which is the International Motor Vehicle Inspection Committee.
How has FBB worked due to Covid-19?
– Since mid-March, it has been an intensive work. We formed a Task Force Corona and introduced weekly reconciliations to get a situation update within each inspection body. We developed a number of measures and routines to prevent the spread of infection and to ensure that the industry could maintain its social mission. We have continuously communicated with the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Swedish Transport Agency, the Public Health Agency, the major pensioner organizations and also EU parliamentarians.
In 2019, the industry carried out 5.6 million inspections. The number of inspections varies slightly from year to year depending on the number of newly registered vehicles and how many vehicles fail and thus require follow-up inspections.
There are approximately 2,000 people working as inspection technicians in Sweden today.
The vehicle inspection industry is part of SWETIC.
