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18th September 1959
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)11/B/ 7110

Witnessing of Official Vehicle Examinations Reveals Surprising Number of Recurring Faults, Mainly on the Lighter Types of Vehicle : Regular Maintenance Could Do Much to Eliminate Many of the Defects

By John F. Moon, A.M.1.R.T.E.

The Vehicle Examiner's Work

LITTLE is generally known about the full scale of activities performed by Ministry of Transport vehicle examiners. Indeed, conscientious operators who run well-maintained fleets of goods vehicles hardly ever come into contact with them, and most bus and coach operators normally see them only when their vehicles are due for annual inspections and re-certifications.

Their duties are numerous, however, and demand an extensive practical knowledge of commercial vehicles. This accounts for the fact that most vehicle examiners are over 35 years old by the time they enter this branch of the Civil Service. This is only as it should be, for a vehicle examiner has to take the responsibility of deciding whether any conceivable make or type of vehicle is safe for the operation on which it is, or is likely to be, engaged.

Frequently prohibition calls for personal interviews with such people as transport managers and managing directors, who might think otherwise, so an examiner must have a complete grasp of the subject and be able to talk authoritatively and in the same language as both the drivers and operators whom he may meet.

Having spent several days in the company of such men, I have the greatest respect for them, particularly having seen for myself a few of the different kinds of job which they have to tackle. These include street spot checks of goods vehicles; full-scale road checks working in conjunc

lion with local police authorities; passenger-vehicle annual inspections.; p.s.v. driving tests; the compilation of accident reports when required by a coroner or the 'police; and, currently, the inspection of garage premises in preparation for the forthcoming compulsory inspections of private cars and light commercial vehicles which are over 10 years old.

These articles ate all based on work . which .1 was privileged to witness in the West Midland Traffic Area of the Ministry of Transport. and thanks are due to the Area Chairman. MT.. W. P. James, 0.B.E.. who allowed me to do this in the hope that publication of this information would act as a spur to operators to avoid the types of defect that were disclosed.

Mr. James has road safety in general very much at heart and . is a strong advocate of preventive maintenance. Indeed, it was Mr. James who backed the Traders' Road Transport Association in his area when they approached him with the idea of forming a goods-vehicle maintenance committee to discuss such subjects. This committee was

instituted in 1955, shortly after which the R.H.A. joined it, and representatives from British Road Services sit on it also. Mr. James himself makes a point of attending each quarterly meeting, and he feels that during the four years of the committee's existence there has been a discernible trend towards better maintenance and fewer vehicle prohibitions.

The West Midland Traffic Area covers five counties and the head office is in Birmingham. It includes at least 7,500 passenger vehicles and more than 150,000 known goods vehicles, in addition to " pirate " vehicles and those engaged on agricultural work. The area is covered by two certifying officers, three senior vehicle examiners and 23 vehicle examiners.

One of the senior vehicle examiners, Mr. G. R. Atkinson. was with me throughout the various checks and inspections that 1 observed over a period of five days. The work described in this first article deals with full-scale road checks and street spot checks of goods vehicles, and for the sake of clarity 1 have divided it into three sections, the full-scale road checks being split up to cover lightand medium-weight vehicles and heavier types.

Full-scale Road Check —Light Vehicles

THE first of the two full-scale road checks which I observed was held in the Dudley area. Four examiners in addition to Mr. Atkinson took part and each examiner was accompanied by a police constable, as is desirable on such occasions. Duties of the police were primarily to stop vehicles, something which an examiner has no power to do himself, and then to check the vehicles and the drivers

for technical and licensing offences while the examiners inspect them for mechanical condition.

Each vehicle that was stopped had full particulars taken of it by the police, and if a vehicle was deemed to be in a dangerous mechanical condition due note was made of

such condition with a view to enforcement action being considered in due course. Such offences as faulty or missing horns, speedometers, driving min-ors, mud wings, and the safety of the load would be dealt with by the police.

During the course of the day's work at Dudley, 78 goods vehicles were stopped and examined and, whilst it must be admitted that most of those stopped were "hand picked" as being likely suspects for faults, only 24 were cleared as being fully roadworthy. Fourteen received immediate prohibition notices, and the remaining 40 drivers were issued with delayed prohibition slips indicating the demand for rectification within a period of anything from one to six days. Only a small number of heavy vehicles was stopped in the Dudley area, and it so happened that few faults were found on these.

Examiners engaged on the check met Mr. Atkinson at Dudley police station, and before setting out (or the site of the morning check I witnessed a clearance check on a vehicle which one of the examiners had issued with a G.V.9 prohibition notice earlier in the week. This particular vehicle, a 5-tonner, had been cleared the night before with regard to its principal mechanical defects, but its brakes had not been found up to standard, so the driver (who had contacted the examiner to find out where he would be that morning) had brought the unladen vehicle round for a brake test.

A Tapley meter was used and efficiency figures of 75 per cent. were achieved with the foot brake and 42 per cent. with the hand brake. These figures were quite sufficient for clearance, with the result that the driver was issued with a G.V.10 removing the prohibition. A brake test is not necessarily conducted before the issue of a G.V.9, but must be made before clearance can be given.

At this point it should perhaps be explained that when a G.V.9 is issued to a driver this does not have the effect of putting the vehicle off the road but merely prevents it from being used for the carriage of goods. Thus, if an immediate prohibition is placed on a vehicle which is unladen at the time, that vehicle may be returned to its base and repairs need not necessarily be carried out immediately; although until they have, and a clearance notification issued, goods may not be carried by it. However, the driver moves his unladen vehicle after the issue of an immediate G.V.9 entirely at his own risk.

When an immediate prohibition is issued regarding a laden vehicle, that vehicle cannot in any circumstances be driven from the site of the examination with the load in place. The driver, therefore, has to contact his employer, who can then either arrange for the repair to be carried out on the spot, so that the vehicle is brought up to a standard which would allow a delayed G.V.9 to be issued, or for the load to be trans-shipped to another vehicle.

It often happens that an examination is made of the 34 vehicle sent out either to collect the load or to repair the prohibited vehicle, and this has led on several occasions to either the replacement vehicle or the breakdown lorry itself being issued with an immediate prohibition, which can in turn necessitate two more vehicles being sent out to attend to the original one and its intended helpmate.

Much of the traffic in the Dudley area is confined to vehicles of between 5and 7-ton capacity carrying scrap iron to the numerous iron foundries and steel works in that area. Indeed, at times, it became difficult to tell exactly where the load started and where the vehicle finished, such was the deplorable condition of the chassis, cabs and bodywork of many of the vehicles stopped.

I was interested to see that the examiners did not work to a fixed routine, and although each conducted roughly the same checks in approximately the same order, they were free to conduct their inspections in their own way. It was impressive to see the speed with which each of the examiners was able to assess a vehicle's condition, and in many cases it was obvious that some faults which were found immediately were spotted because the examiners get to know in time which faults particular makes and ages of vehicle are most prone to.

Thus, one type of vehicle which has a reputation for suffering from broken chassis frames was stopped during the course of the work at Dudley, and sure enough the chassis was cracked right through in two places, adjacent to the off-side rear spring rear hanger bracket.

Another popular make of medium-weight chassis is susceptible to poor braking because there is an unsupported length of single-ply, unarmoured rubber hose in the piping between the vacuum reservoir and the servo motor. This hose becomes softened in time so that it pinches together when the pedal is applied, thereby depriving the brakes of servo effect. This was proved twice during the course of the Dudley checks when two vehicles of this type were— among other things—found to suffer from this very defect.

Another equally popular make of vehicle of the same capacity is often found to suffer at least one cracked brake drum, one of these chassis being stopped with a 5-in. section of the near-side rear brake-drum rim missing. This particular vehicle fell into line with the majority of those examined in that it had a loose steering box, and it was noticed that this condition was worse when the steering column had a flexible coupling in it. Such couplings are a design feature intended to isolate the steering wheel from chassis vibration, but they also have the undesirable effect of giving little direct indication to the driver that his steering box is not securely mounted to the frame.

What are the faults that an examiner looks for, and (Continued on page 181) iich of these faults merit immediate or delayed prohibis? The answer to this is that the examiners' duties are incipally concerned with road safety and therefore anyng on a vehicle which renders it immediately or potently dangerous receives his attention.

Fortunately, the majority of drivers realizes this, and I I not witness one example of a driver becoming in the ghtest bit offensive when told that his vehicle had to put off the road. In some cases, in fact, drivers, on hearofa vehicle check in the immediate vicinity, "stiricier " their vehicles to the examiners and go so far as point out particularly bad defects so that these have be put right by their employers before they can be sent t on jobs again.

This unfortunate state of affairs usually arises because bre are operators who will take no notice of what their IYers report to them regarding the condition of their hides. In many cases drivers are faced with the option either continuing to drive the vehicle in what they realize be a dangerous condition or quitting the job to let somedy else drive. This is, of course, mainly the case with atively small undertakings, but is not noticeably prelent among any one particular class of carrier.

k description of the checks made by one of the four uniners should give a guide to operators as to what [nts an examiner looks for with regard to classing a tide as safe or otherwise. Few examinations lasted gelthan a quarter of an hour, good vehicles being ared in under five minutes.

nvariably steering receives prime consideration, and as in as a vehicle is stopped the examiner asks the driver rotate the steering wheel briskly to and fro just suffintly to turn the front wheels through a small arc. Any ication of excessive play in the steering is thereby ealed.

I such play exists it is up to the examiner to find out ere it lies, as it could be in the mounting of the steering eel itself, in the mechanism of the steering box, the ring-box mounting, in any of the joints in the steering cages, or at the axle king pins. The worst example I nessed was one vehicle which had 800 of free play the wheel caused by the drop arm being loose on the ring-box rocker shaft.

his type of steering examination demands a compreisive knowledge of the types of steering system and :age used in every conceivable design of commercial ice. There are, for example. certain types of ball it which give an indication of being worn but which, ause of their method of spring loading, are not as igerous as they would at first appear.

yen if no worn linkages are found, the examiner still checks to see that all securing nuts are in good condition and appropriately split-pinned. One driver quite cheerfully claimed that the whole of the steering gear of his pantechnicon had been checked by the chassis manufacturers only the week before, but the examiners found this a little hard to believe in view of the use of rusty nails instead of split pins.

If an examiner suspects that the king-pin bushes or thrust washers are worn, he will jack up the axle of the vehicle and apply leverage to the front wheels to assess the amount of wear and its location. but this is not always necessary. While underneath the front of the vehicle, the examiner thoroughly checks the front suspension, particular attention being paid to worn anchor and shackle pins, cracked, loose or missing spring leaves, and the security of the U-bolts. Attention is also paid to the condition of the engine and the radiator mountings, the condition of the brake hoses or linkages and the brake drums, and the existence of serious oil or water leaks.

Working towards the rear of the vehicle, the examiner then deals with the propeller shaft, checking for loose flange bolts (a frequent fault), worn splines and the security of the drive flanges on the gearbox and axle. This also provides an opportunity to observe the condition and security of the exhaust system, and in most cases this provides yet another source of complaint. Some " silencers " look more like pepper pots than items of vehicle equipment, and the strength of some mounting arrangements is decided solely by the thickness of the string used to hold the silencer off the ground.

Turning to the rear of the vehicle, the examiner inspects the springs and brakes in the same way as when dealing with the front axle, but with the addition of taking due note of the condition of the hand-brake linkages.

Frequently it is found out that "temporary** repairs have been effected on the braking equipment, such as the insertion of incorrect bolts in the linkages, often without even nuts on them: a bolt inserted upwards instead of downwards can be a source of danger in such instances, even if there is a nut on it: Brake pipes attached to the axle are sometimes found to be insecurely clipped and an examiner has to watch such points as the location of these pipes. It is on record that one heavy vehicle had a brake pipe incorrectly attached to the axle in that it passed along the top of the axle tube instead of underneath it. Continual overloading over the course of months caused the chassis frame to chafe this pipe and when it eventually fractured there was a serious accident which resulted in the driver being killed.

While underneath the chassis, the examiner also takes in the condition of the frame sideand cross-members and the security of their attendant rivets and bolts. Several cases were noted of elongated holes in spring-hanger brackets, two vehicles of one make being so had in this respect that the off-side front spring in each case moved backwards and forwards almost 1 in. when the steering wheel was turned. Cracked side-member flanges are frequently found and often these arc so readily discernable to anyone looking underneath the vehicle that there is no excuse at all for an operator not taking action about them.

Considerable importance is placed upon the condition and mounting of cabs. One vehicle stopped in the Dudley area received an immediate G.V.9 prohibition because the off-side rear cab mounting had failed completely, with the result that the cab was resting on the brake rod joining the pedal to the servo, thus obstructing free movement of the brake pedal.

A surprising number of vehicles was found with cabs that could be lifted bodily off the frame, the principal fault not being so much that the mountings themselves had given way but that they were insecurely fastened to the cab framing or that the framing itself had broken i.p under repeated stress. Although this type of defect was more prevalent on composite cabs, all-steel cabs were by no means free of it.

Nevertheless, all-steel cabs didnot suffer from as many faults as composite cabs in other directions, rotted timber being a frequent complaint. It is obviously not realized how important cab fittings are, particularly door hinges and locks.

The forward part of the cab framing is often important with regard to the steering, because many designs still have a steering-column securing bracket which is bolted to the cab framing.

The examiner checks all pedal controls for freedom of movement and the hand-brake and gear-change levers are inspected for security. One vehicle which was examined in my presence was found to have a sloppy gear lever, and subsequent inspection from beneath revealed that the complete gearbox was loose on the engine because all the gearboxengine securing bolts were loose, a condition which allowed _radial movement of the gearbox.

Bumpers, wings and other loose external body panels are awarded black marks by vehicle examiners and often lead to 'police prosecution because of their danger to other road users, particularly pedestrians. The number of loose and torn wings found during the inspections that I witnessed was legion.

A summary of the more common defects—and some of the more unusual ones—which were found on vehicles during these checks will be made in the third article of this series.

Full-scale Road Check —Heavy Vehicles

ALTHOUGH one or two heavy vehicles were encountered during the Dudley cheeks, a higher proportion was examined during my second day's work with the vehicle examiners, when checks were made on the Bristol road, Birmingham, one of the main arteries leading south-west out of that city.

When dealing with this class of vehicle, examiners adopt exactly the same procedure as with lighter types, but it was noticeable that fewer defects were found and generally these came into a different category from those revealed on the smaller vehicles.

Surprisingly, few eight-wheelers were stopped, but on three of those steering troubles were noted, the source of complaint being the relay lever linking the primary and secondary drag links of the two axles.

It was noticeable that few cab defects were revealed on the heavies, and springs and chassis frames also were generally in good condition. Several loose hand-brake levers were discovered, and one particular make of vehicle was found to suffer badly from blowing exhaust-pipe flexible joints.

Unfortunately, the majority of semi-trailer outfits that was stopped was found to have braking troubles. An instance of

n38 this was given by a 10-ton outfit, the driver of which was wearing a hearing aid. From the difficulty he experienced in answering the examiner's questions, it would appear that the batteries of his aid were running low, which would explain the fact that he could not hear a bad air leak every time he pressed his brake pedal.

One of the first vehicles stopped was a 12-year-old eightwheeler which, in addition to having a loose steering relay lever, had a loose ball pin in the drag link; loose bolts in the !vatuniversal joint; and a cross-member, a spring hanger bracket, several body securing bolts, two wings, a shackle pin in the rear bogie, and all the off side of the cab loose also!

In this case, the driver was issued with an immediate G.V.9 and as his vehicle was laden, he had to phone for a fitter to be sent out to repair the steering. Once this had been done to the satisfaction of the examiner, the immediate G.V.9 was cancelled by issuing a G.V.10 and a delayed G.V.9 relating to the loose mechanical and body items was issued, thereby allowing the driver to continue on his way, although not until some five hours had elapsed since he was originally stopped. A brake test was carried out before the intermediate G.V.10 was issued, of course.

Each of the examiners commented to me separately that the standard of maintenance on heavy vehicles in the West Midland Traffic Area had noticeably improved over the course of the past three or four years and it is not unlikely that this is partly because of the influence of the joint Vehicle Maintenance Committee. One point was clear, however, that defects were by no means limited to old vehicles. This emphasized that any maintenance programme should be instituted from the start of the life of any vehicle.

During the course of the day's work in the Birmingham area, a total of 82 vehicles was stopped, and of these 38 were cleared as being roadworthy, 40 were issued with delayed G.V.9s requiring work to be done within a period of anything from one day to six days, and four were given immediate G.V.9s.

Spot Checks in the Street

AREGULAR duty of any vehicle examiner, when he is not otherwise engaged, is to carry out spot checks in the street. The procedure is that the examiner, operating by himself, chooses a particular area and when he sees a vehicle in obviously dubious condition, he seeks out the driver and then carries out the same sort of examination that has been described with respect to the full-scale road check.

Vehicles likely to be so examined need not necessarily be in service: the very fact that they are on the public highway renders them liable for such a check.


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