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Ashfield District Council
Page 65
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Ashfield District Council transport services manager David White is a happy man now that the authority no longer faces the threat of losing its 0-licence.
North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney had revoked the council's licence after a spate of overloading incidents these occurred some time before White, who was formerly with the Royal Mail, joined the council seven months ago. However, Macartney suspended the revocation until 31 March this year to give Ashfield time to get its house in order.
The Nottinghamshire council has done just that, says White, and the TO has duly granted it a reprieve.
"We had a number of incidents where RCVs were found to be up to a tonne overweight," White explains.
"As a consequence we've equipped all of them with on-board weighers. We've sourced equipment from Axtec, PM Onboard, and Red Forge, and we've found all of their systems to be excellent. Most of our RCVs-we operate 14 are 26-tonners, but we run them at 24 tonnes to be on the safe side.
"Existing chassis have been retrofitted with axle sensors, while new chassis have been ordered with load cells. We're conscious that the former can suffer damage on landfills."
Like so many local authorities, Ashfield's RCV crews work on a task-and-finish basis. Such an approach can mean that crews at some councils can be tempted to overload wagons to avoid having to make two trips to the landfill site.
"It's been made crystal clear to all concerned, however, that running overweight is a disciplinary matter," says White. "I'm sure it's a message they understand."
And he concludes that it's not just the council's RCVs that have been kitted out with on-board weighers: "In fact they're now a feature of every vehicle we run over 3.5-tonnes gross, and we've just added them to some 3.5-tonne tippers."