Clearun gets defects warning
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• South Eastern and Metropolitan LA Brigadier Michael Turner has renewed the 12-vehicle licence held by London-based tipper operator Clearun, but he warned the company, its directors, and transport manager Patrick Gladwell about maintenance.
Vehicle examiner William John said that one delayed and two immediate prohibitions had been issued in recent months. Defects included a worn tyre, an air leak, loose wheelnuts and brake defects.
He was unhappy with the company's maintenance procedures and its system of driver defect reporting the initial pass rate at annual test was only 35%.
One vehicle had been operated after the expiry of its test certificate, but questioned by Colin Ward, for the company, John agreed that there had been some confusion over the dates involved.
Ward said that loose wheelnuts were a national problem. The company had been thrown into a certain amount of confusion by the sud
den departure to Ireland of its chief fitter.
There was now a much tighter driver defect reporting system, said Ward. The inspection system, based on time and mileage, was working smoothly.
Gladwell pointed out that the company had not had any overloading convictions for a number of years.
Brigadier Turner said he noted various problems going back to 1986. He was very much concerned about the initial annual test pass rate, which was unsatisfactory.
Although he was prepared to give the company the benefit of the doubt, Brigadier Turner warned that if there were any further problems, the company would be brought back to another public inquiry where its licence would probably be suspended.