Demounts are delayed
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AS A RESULT of a feature in CM last week which looked at th legality of over-sized demountable-bodied vehicles, Silentnight ha called a temporary halt to the construction of a further eigh drawbar outfits.
Silentnight transport manager Fred Short told CM that its existing fleet of demountable drawbars can operate safely at the 18m overall length limit, including the demount bodies, but that the eight outfits currently in build would have been 18.7m overall.
Without the bodies these eight would also conform to the 18m limit and Silentnight had hoped that the apparent exemption for demount bodies in the Construction and Use Regulations 1978
would exempt the 18.7m outfitE But as pointed out in last week' CM, a court case involvint Premier Transport has ruled the this is apparently no longer true The eight Silentnight drawbo outfits in build that are th subject of the temporary halt ar designed to carry two 26-ft 6i box bodies instead of the 24. bodies on the existing DodgE based drawbars in the fleet.
The demount equipment is bE ing supplied by Abel DemountE ble Systems while the trailer are coming from Primrose, Th order for the 32 demountabl box bodies for the outfits is spl between Vanplan and Marsden.
Silentnight was due to hold meeting with representative from the Department of Tram port and Freight Transport Assc ciation on Thursday. Dependin on the outcome, the Silentniglboard will then make a furthE decision about the future of th eight drawbars.