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Operation 'just needs tweaking'
Page 18
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A County Durham haulage firm which had been called to its first Public Inquiry in 36 years of operation has escaped with a warning.
Christine and Neil Fairless, trading as Neil Fairless Haulage of Bishop Auckland, had been called before the North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry. They hold a licence for eight vehicles.
Vehicle examiner Gordon Whittaker said that three prohibition notices and four refusals to clear had been issued over the past five years, two of the prohibitions and two of the refusals to clear coming within the last eight months. This showed a seriously deficient maintenance system, he said. No driver defect reports were available and he was told they were disposed of once the defects were rectified. Whittaker said the inspection records were now being properly completed.
Neil Fairless said that the business had been in existence for 36 years. Two of the vehicles were curtainsiders on contract to British Gypsum at Penrith and the third was an eight-wheeled tipper working for Blue Circle Cement.
Since the vehicle examiner's visit, a daily 'nil defect' reporting system had been introduced and the reports were being retained. One vehicle, given a delayed prohibition for the lack of a seal on the OIL switch cover, had been in their possession for eight years and it had passed its annual test in that condition on a number of occasions.
The vehicles went through the garage every weekend to ensure that they were in a good condition, said Fairless. The state of the industry demanded that the vehicles work five days a week and they could not afford any breakdowns. They worked seven days a week and they had only had one holiday in five years.
The DTC said that It was clear that they had been receptive to the advice given. She was satisfied that it was a good operation that had just required "tweaking and putting back on the right track".