The valuable work of maintenance committees
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Throughout the country maintenance committees are making a significant contribution to safety on the road and economy of costs. John Durant looks at their work
BRAKES are top of the list in terms of percentage faults found at first inspection of goods vehicles by the Department of Transport. If through good work brakes were knocked off the top, No 2 would become No 1.1 put it this way to gain perspective and stop incipient thoughts that they have suddenly become a big problem.
Nothing is more obviously important than brakes, but faults in most areas can be as grave, and throughout the country maintenance committees hold watching briefs and make wide-ranging inquiries. The results can make significant contributions to both safety on the road and economy of costs. They want to be informed of important facts by both large and small operators as they come up (see Area Lists for names and phone numbers).
A couple of years ago there was a considerable increase in the incidence of wheel-stud breakage and as a result the South Wales Maintenance Committee investigated possible causes and the circumstances surrounding this very serious defect. The failures fell into two categories: • Broken wheel studs; • Loose wheel nuts.
The reason why the problem grew worse — over a period of two years — was considered to be "possibly due to higher vehicle speeds and weights and increased vehicle cornering capabilities".
Broken wheel studs occurred mainly on front wheels, bearing out the comments on cornering stress.
The factors probably contri The South Wales committee put out a booklet on wheel stud and wheel nut failure and reprinted the Western Traffic Area Maintenance Advisory Committee's notes on effective brake maintenance.
John Gibbons, who is company engineer for Western BRS and based in Bristol, is chairman of the South Wales committee and also serves on the Western one. He told me that 8,000 copies of this booklet were published and inquiries came from as far away as Finland and India. As one result of the committee's report, Fodens changed the design of its spigot mounting.