Firm let down by service checks
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A SURREY coach company has appeared before the South Eastern Traffic Commissioners because of irregularities rising out of maintenance difficulties at its main depot.
Whites Coaches, a 60-year-old company, changed its method of maintenance checks in 1980 at its Frimley Road, Camberley depot Instead of in-house inspections, the Freight Transport Association was called in to reduce the work load, Traffic Commissioners' chairman Randall Thornton heard. FTA inspectors would come in weekly to view the vehicles until each one had been seen.
Unfortunately, because of mismanagement, some vehicles were inspected twice, while others remained unchecked, "At the start, the FTA system seemed to be working," said Geoffrey Pitt, director and general manager of Whites Coaches, "but after a while it was obvious that things were not so good."
Another problem connected with the FTA inspection was the difficulty the fitters had reading the inspection sheets, Mr Pitt said there were no indications as to the seriousness of the faults detected. "The fitters did not know which were urgent and which could wait for a while," he explained.
The Camberley depot houses 21 psv. The fleet comprises double-deck Leyland Atlanteans and single-deck AEC, Ford, and Bedford vehicles. Since the company had reverted to its previous methods of maintenance checks, the vehicles were running smoothly again, said Mr Pitt.
The depot now had two fitters and one night-fitter, all controlled by a traffic foreman. They examine vehicles on a Monday and Wednesday of one week, and a Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the second week. This continues full time so that in an eight-week cycle each vehicle will have been checked once, Mr Pitt explained.
The two double-deck buses in the fleet are inspected at Whites Commercials, also based at Camberley.
Whites Coaches' secondary depots at Borghurst, Basingstoke and at Winchester had no maintenance problems and carried out their own inspections of the vehicles.
"And now that we have changed to this system, our fleet running costs will go down and maintenance standards go up," Mr Pitt told the Commissioners.
The running costs of each vehicle at Camberley are 28p per mile, compared with 13p per mile at the other two depots, Mr Pitt pointed out.
The maintenance difficulties had come to light as a result of spot checks carried out by Department of Transport inspectors last summer.
A total of 26 defect notices were issued to Whites Coaches, although only 19 of these applies to the Camberley depot fleet.
The defects included oil leaks, faulty emergency doors, no fire extinguishers, and faulty brakes.