BRS engineering centre open
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• BRS SOUTHERN has opened the second of its planned four commercial vehicle engineering centres. More than £500,000 has been invested in building and equipping the new five-bay workshop, stores and offices at the Reading, Cardiff Road, site.
The new workshop is open continuously from 7am on Monday until noon on Saturdays. Sixteen fitters are employed on a three-shift basis to man the new workshop, which replaces an older one on the same site.
About 300 vehicles are being maintained on the site at the moment, BRS vehicles accounting for less than half of this number. Within two years the total of vehicles handled should rise to around 450, 80% being third-party work, and BRS is already looking to recruit another six fitters. Each of the five bays is double length, accommodating a maximum of 15 vehicles in the workshop at any one time — depending on the mix of chassis types. Neederman roofmounted exhaust extraction systems have been installed. These are raised and lowered by using an infra-red remote controle.
Another tracking extractor is used for vehicles on the rollingroad Crypton brake analyser. Only one bay has an inspection pit while another has a vehicle lift. This is complemented by a four-post mobile lift, a piece of equipment that is finding increasing favour in BRS workshops. Commenting on the expected increase in third-party work going through the workshop, Mike Donnelly, BRS Southern's head of engineering, says that the company will tailor a maintenance scheme to an operator's requirements. "From a single service to full contract maintenance including tyres, glass and bulbs as required." Prices can be given in pence per mile, pence per kilometre, a fixed montly sum or a menu for specific jobs. Operators will also be able to buy parts from the stores to fit themselves and there is 24-hour breakdown cover from the site.
Two more commercial vehicle engineering centres will be opened within 18 months at Croydon and Leyton. BRS engineering has 120 locations and a turnover of over 50 million, mostly from third-party contracts, but it is aiming for a 80/20 split in favour of external work. It is developing a portable computer system on-the-spot pricing for fleet maintenance by BRS.