Trailer warning for
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traction operators
TC Simon Evans says hauliers pulling third-party trailers must ensure they are fit and serviceable
SIMON EVANS, deputy traffic commissioner (TC) for the North West, has warned traction hauliers pulling another firm's trailer that they are putting their 0-licence at risk if they fail to ensure that the trailer is fit and serviceable.
In a written decision following a June public inquiry in Warrington, the deputy TC issued a formal warning to Morecambe-based JM Gorry & Son, which specialises in traction-only haulage mainly for blue chip businesses.
A Vosa vehicle examiner concluded a maintenance inquiry into the firm in January, which discovered that since 2008 there had been 36 prohibitions issued to vehicles and trailers used by the firm —24 of them to trailers. Some of the defects leading to prohibitions — including an S-marked prohibition to a trailer — were brake related.
MD John Gorry and his son, director Shaun, who also act as the joint transport managers, told the deputy TC about the responsibility the company takes on when it hauls trailers belonging to customers. Typically the firm picks up trailers at a variety of port, there is no advance notice or previous confirmation by the customer of the identity of the particular trailer, and the trailer and load are then transported and dropped. As many as 300 trailers can be hauled in a week for four main customers.
John told the TC that he had taken up the question of the S-marked prohibition with his opposite number at the trailer supplier to express his concerns that an issue he felt was undetectable by his driver at a first use check had resulted in a serious prohibition.
He added that the firm had the support of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) in its attempts to place a greater level of responsibility on trailer owners for the condition of their trailer.
However, the TC told the firm that it was the responsibility of traction-only operators to provide themselves with "satisfactory levels of assurance" about the checks carried out by trailer owners.
He said: "The principal responsibility is on the operator providing the traction to ensure that both the tractor unit and the trailer are fit and that the risk will be to his licence if there are issues. This is a long-established principle and is [an] issue that must not be compromised. If [the operator] cannot be satisfied about the arrangements that the trailer owner has in place, it will be necessary for him to cease to act for that client."
Summing up
The principal responsibility is on the operator providing the traction to ensure that both the tractor unit and the trailer are fit and serviceable.