Paperwork is the key
Page 20
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• Operators have to keep records on paper so Traffic Commissioners can make judgements about them on the documentary evidence.
This was made plain by North Western Traffic Commissioner Keith Waterworth after Leigh, Lancs-based William Roberts, trading as William Roberts Transport, told a Leeds discipli
nary inquiry that preventive maintenance inspections had been carried out but the paperwork had not been completed.
Roberts was also seeking to increase the authorisation on his licence from four to six vehicles.
Vehicle examiner Graham Brock said he examined two vehicles during a maintenance investigation in September, issuing one immediate and one delayed prohibition. The condition of the vehicles was poor and some defects were long standing.
Inspection intervals were not being adhered to and there were gaps of up to eight months in the inspection records, he added. A previous immediate prohibition had been issued in October 1997.
In reply to the TC, Brock said Roberts had been more than willing to accept any suggestions.
For Roberts, Chris Charlesworth said he had changed his maintenance contractor since the inpections in September.
Roberts said he operated one 7.5-tonner and three 17-tonners. He required the additional vehi
des because he had a new contract and also needed a spare vehicle. He now had a wall-planner showing when inspections were due; he had bought the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness; and he was introducing a daily drivers nil defect reporting system. Over the past 12 months he had spent £16,390 on vehicle maintenance.
Asked about the eight-month gap in the inspection records, Roberts said the work had been done without the paperwork being completed.
Granting the licence increase, with a strong warning, the TC imposed a condition that only five vehicles may be used on the road at any one time. He also warned Roberts that further problems would result in action that would hurt the business.