rraining course check
Page 27
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Critical examination of some training urses now being offered to the road transrt industry is taking place in many cirs. This fact was apparent in discussions ring a Transport Association "brains .st" at Harrogate on Saturday. Mr. P. D. Rainier, RTITB (Leeds), answering quesns, said that the Training Board was ming a continuous check on the various irses that are being proffered.
If a practising transport manager did not that a particular course was up to ndard it could be considered for etessment.
gr. F. M. Fieldhouse, group transport nager of British Ropes Ltd., commented t too many people had mushroomed into isport consultancy. Much depended on it the individual wanted; the tuition ht turn out to be pitched at the wrong
rhe volume of defects in British vehicles thing operators was sufficiently serious the Ministry of Transport to insist on ipliance with a set standard at the manu.uring end, said Mr. K. Beresford (StokeTrent). Operators discovered these faults matter of weeks which suggested a need plating and testing at source. Mr_ dhouse felt that complaints to manufacTS took too long in taking effect_ In ie cases five years had elapsed before or but irritating design faults had been .ected.
tafT at MoT testing stations were still ding up practical experience so that e variations could occur in procedure, said Mr. J. T. Low, chief MoT vehicle examiner (Leeds). Where it was felt there was cause for complaint reference should be made to the lane supervisor. The police had nothing to do with the test stations and had no power to direct a vehicle to proceed to a station for test. At a spot check an MoT officer might direct the vehicle to the station if he thought it should be put over a pit.
Except where tyres were below the required dimensions the station manager had no power to vary standard trailer weights, said Mr. Low in reply to further questions. Over-tyring would not produce a weight bonus as there were other considerations to be taken into account. If there were special modifications to a trailer the weight could be re-assessed on test. A number of vehicles faced difficulty because off-loading at the rear in these cases overloaded the front axle. Some operators had protected themselves by fitting false headboards.
Mr. Fieldhouse saw many reasons why the ancillary user should not turn over to operating for hire or reward, among them the possibility of disruption of the service to the customer and the chance of con tamination. With 180 vehicles and some 200 trailers he tried to plan operations, including trunking, on the same lines as the haulier and perhaps could attain a better average in the matter of return loads. The new regulations brought long-docking closer. Testing a twoto three-year-old reasonably maintained vehicle might involve costs of L30-£40.