yrne fleet clipped
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L UT FOUR of the 26 public service vehicle licences held by It Brothers (Leek) Ltd and W. Stonier & Son Ltd, Stoke on n the two associated companies of Beresfords Motors Ltd, te been suspended for three months by the West Midland c Commissioners.
fehicle examiners gave Once that since two of the ,ht vehicles operated by rile Brothers were susided in April, three further ;pension notices had been .ced on its vehicles. In addin, since January there had ?ni a total of eight suspen n notices and advisory de • notices imposed on the :hteen Stonier vehicles.
[he average age of both ets was high and the tintenance records were unisfactory, with mileages not entered in many instances and the inspection sheets consisting only of a series of ticks.
The Stonier premises were adjudged to be inadequate for the size of the fleet, and although it was said that major work was carried out at the Cheddleton premises of Beresfords Motors, the vehicle examiner concerned felt that it was merely token.
There was no criticism of the Beresfords Motors fleet.
Jim Beresford, a director, said he felt that a number of the suspension notices and defect notices were somewhat harsh. He instanced two occasions where notices were placed on vehicles under repair in the workshop.
Referring to the age of the two fleets, Mr Beresford said that vehicle manufacturers did not build vehicles to have a three-year life and an operator was going to operate them to the end of their useful lives. The group has the facilities for restoring vehicles, with all the major body and paint work being carried out at Cheddleton.
Turning to the records, Mr Beresford said the inspection sheets were filled in after any necessary rectification work had been carried out. Those sheets were supported by job cards with individual signatures, so it was possible to check on what had been done and who had carried out the work on either of the premises.
The present Stonier premises were the subject of a compulsory-purchase order, and the company had been actively searching for new accommodation for some time without success.
Announcing the Commis sioners' decision, the Chairman, Arthur Crabtree, said the group should give urgent consideration to altering its system. Further fleet inspections would be carried out at the end of the three-month period, and it would depend on the report at that stage whether the commissioners decided to lift the suspensions or not.