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Operator told to contact M - B

10th December 1998
Page 24
Page 24, 10th December 1998 — Operator told to contact M - B
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• North-Eastern Traffic Commissioner Keith Water worth has advised a Nottingham firm to contact Mercedes about an alleged failure to fit red rear reflectors on new vehicles.

P&N Salvage, which holds a licence for three vehicles, appeared before the TC at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry. Vehicle examiner Paul Orange said he issued a defect notice to the vehicle he examined in August for lack of rear reflectors. This was not the first time he had come across a new Mercedes without rear reflectors, with operators having to buy them themselves When partner Nicholas Brooks asked if he should take it up with Mercedes, the TC said that he would if he were Brooks.

Orange said the company's stated inspection period of six weeks

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or 10,000km had been stretched to 15 weeks and 26,000km. Since February immediate prohibitions had been imposed on both the vehicles in use.

After the TC had said that the firm had been warned twice about extended inspection periods, Orange said that though the six-week period had not been exceeded in August, the distance had gone as high as 17,000km on occasions.

Brooks said that the two vehicles given prohibitions were not owned by the company; they had been hired by the parts manager without the general manager's knowledge. In one case the hire company said that the firm would not be held responsible.

That was rubbish, said the TC. As soon as a licence holder used a hired vehicle on the road he became responsible for its condition. Brooks said the company had decided not to hire any more vehicles.

Questioned by the TC about the inspection periods, Brooks said that the mileage alternative had been dropped.

Suspending one vehicle for a month, the TC warned that if the firm let the period between inspections drift again he would come down on them very hard.