More On Maintenance
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AN investigation into every one of the 600 m. journeys made by goods vehicles every year was out of the question, said Mr. Thomas Galbraith. Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport. this week.
Mr. W. T. Rodgers (Lab., Stockton) suggested that drivers' wages sheets as well as log sheets should be examined.
He challenged the Ministry's statement that only a lunatic fringe was responsible for bad maintenance. Mr. Rodgers recalled that of 97,000 vehicles checked last year, 34,000 had been found defective, and quoted the annual report of the Licensing Authorities as saying that standards of maintenance were poor and falling, and that the problem was made extremely difficult by staff shortages.
Good maintenance was important to ensure fair competition, but more important for public safety, went on Mr. Rodgers. One way of combating the problem would be to suspend more licences. Many operators regarded fines and penalties as a business expense.
Mr. Galbraith agreed there was a problem which had consequences for public safety and said that this was one of the reasons why the new spot checks were being started.
On wages sheets, Mr. Galbraith said payments could be hidden in all sorts of ways to avoid detection.