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Inspectors look for wastage
Page 5
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ALL THE FREIGHT Transport Association's vehicle inspectors have been given special instructions to report, particularly on fuel wasting defects, Terry Goldrick, Controller, Engineering Services, told an FTA seminar on distribution and transport management at the London Hilton.
An analysis of a sample of 500 vehicles out of 2500 examined in one week showed that 80 per cent had fuel related faults. Of these 36 per cent were fuel leaks and 17 per cent concerned low tyre pressures or mis-matching.
Inspectors were also told to look for: black smoke; fuel pumps and governor adjustments; air intake filters; brakes and hubs; wheel and chassis misalignment; and damaged fuel economy devices.
Mr Goldrick, in a paper on energy conservation, said "Slab-fronted aggressive design vehicles, in the long term, should go." He thought that operators should seek to obtain five to eight per cent saving of fuel from fitting air deflectors if designed and fitted correctly, but warned that different operating circumstances alter cases. Road speed governors needed to be fitted to vehicles with deflectors.
Operators should investigate the possibility of derating the engine as many vehicles are over powered.