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Dividends, defects and GV9s
CENSING By lain Sherriff MITA
ENS1NG AUTHORITIES generally are dealing with more offences under section 178 of the 1962 Act than should be necessary, or is desirable. What is more alarming is lumber of large and responsible operators who find themselves called upon to show why their licences should not be revoked, suspended, or curtailed. Activity is partily brisk in the North and the Scottish LA, Mr. A. B. Birnie, and his deputy, Mr. L. A. appear to be determined to stamp out the operation of defective vehicles in their area, .ent decisions are any guide.
any inquiry into the issue of a prohibinotice the LA has to be satisfied that has been frequency of offence, grave ct and danger to the public. Where such 'fence has been proven the LA has the r to impose the most severe restrictions Le operations of the offender. In one of ases before him, Mr. Birnie exercised icy because a heavier restriction would caused nuisance to the housewife. The itor in the case was Musselburgh and ;rrow Co-operative Society Ltd., who de a milk deliver), service to almost )0 members.
le society had been served with 35 proons after 64 of their vehicles had been lined within their own premises. As is ial in such circumstances, the operator .red his surprise and concern at the ition of his vehicles. The society had going through a bad period over the three years and the condition of the was not all that the general manager d have desired. The fleet was gradually ; replaced and orders for new vehicles inting to some £14,000 were now in
adage
ie adage of prevention being better than is so old that one finds great difficulty keying that Musselburgh and Fisherrow perative Society had not heard of it. entive maintenance would have been more effective, more economical and inly less embarrassing, than being the ient of 35 GV9s. Preventive mainice costs money; it means that equip. and often spare vehicles, have to be hased and of course operators have to nployed.
this particular case additional vehicles Lot at first sight appear to be a factor; -round vehicles normally finish their d by 2 p.m., leaving a good portion of day available for maintenance and ir. It was admitted in evidence that a ier had been employed but his services been dispensed with three years ago on )asis that a skilled mechanic could do ob more effectively. As for equipment, manually operated grease guns were able.
MoT vehicle examiner reported that was not a regular maintenance proime. The society employs a well-qualified transport manager who has membership of three professional transport bodies. Where then does the trouble lie? Not in lack of skilled supervision, not in the shortage of spare vehicle capacity and, since four mechanics are employed, it is unlikely that they are overworked—or they should not be in a well maintained fleet. What then is left?—finance. This assumption is understandable if we remember that the general manager said that the society had been going through a bad period over the past three years. They have presumably emerged from this period, since they are now spending £14.000 on replacement vehicles. The manager also pointed out to the LA that Co-operative Societies were complex organizations and that transport was only one small part of the whole.
All this I took to indicate a serious shortage of cash; but this was not so. Musselburgh and Fisherrow Co-op Society paid a gross dividend to their members of approximately £61,000 for the last six-month trading period. The dividend paid to members during the past three years has fluctuated between 9d. and Is. 3d. in the pound.
Cash was obviously available for certain items of expenditure but not, it would seem, for the maintenance of the transport fleet. The LA said at the public inquiry that he felt insufficient weight had been given to the transport manager's voice. Co-operative Societies, complex though they may be. are like almost all trading organizations controlled by a board of management or a board of directors, and the LA's sentiments can apply equally well to almost all similar organizations: too little weight is being given to the voice of transport managers.
Musselburgh and Fisherrow Co-operative Society Ltd. were fortunate; others may be less so. MoT statistics indicate that 49 per cent of commercial vehicles stopped for test on Britain's roads had defects which could make them unsafe, and the Ministry through their LAs and examiners clearly means to stamp out the operation of these defective vehicles. Should an operator receive a prohibition and a submission of poor financial resources has to be made, then he should be sure that he has a balance sheet to support the claim. Dividends and defects do not reconcile.
Finance is not the only reason advanced for defective vehicle maintenance, nor can it be when organizations such as BRS. who have ample resources, find themselves asked to show cause why their licence should not be revoked, suspended or curtailed.
Ignorance of the gravity of the situation is one extremely frank reason now being advanced, but ignorance is no excuse and punishment is often the reward for this frankness. Such was the case at Kirkcaldy on Friday, where the deputy LA suspended 19 vehicles belonging to Dunfermline Cooperative Society and three vehicles belonging to A. Cant, a local builder, for a period of 12 months. A full report of the case appears elsewhere in this issue.
Difficult to understand
In both cases the operators told the LA that they did not realize the gravity of the situation. It is difficult to understand how this could apply to the Co-operative Society when they, like Musselburgh, were employing a qualified transport manager. However, it appears that the transport manager only operated the vehicles and did not arrange for their repair. This latter function was vested in the works department manager whose remit was for the care and maintenance of buildings and property, and he had no practical transport knowledge. This situation has now been resolved and the transport manager is now completely in charge.
The appointment of an unqualified person to this or any other situation is incomprehensible and equally so is the acceptance of the appointment by that person. One man, perhaps, who could have done much was the transport manager. But it seems he failed to make his voice heard loudly enough.
While C-licence transport remains the Cinderella of industry there will be an abundance of section 178 cases. COMMERCIAL MOTOR.thiS week is reporting more; they seem increasingly to be there to report.
What do the LAs feel about this situation? I have been unable to contact all of them but those to whom I have spoken hold differing views. Mr. Wells obviously holds very strong views, as does the Scottish LA, Mr. Birnie. The campaign to clean up defective vehicles will, I am assured, continue in Scotland. In other areas, too, the power of revocation is being felt but I was a little disconcerted to hear one LA express the view that the vehicles in his area must be in excellent condition. He based this premise on the fact that he had not been involved in many section 178 cases. He was sure that his vehicle inspectors were on top of their job. This I do not doubt, but there are insufficient inspectors.
The views of the LAs on punishment also differ from area to area. One LA believes that fines should be imposed, not £10 but in serious cases £10,000. Others believe that by hitting hard through suspensions they will obtain results. One LA feels that if there has been an immediate suspension and the vehicle has subsequently been repaired then this is punishment in itself. There are too many loose ends in this business. However, the 178 campaign is, I believe, gaining momentum. LAs are supporting the evidence of their area mechanical engineers by imposing heavy penalties. The goods vehicle test will help to reduce the number of GV9s being issued in future. This will eliminate unnecessary waste of court time. And the waste of court time will be the subject of a future Casebook.