cropper's column
Page 39
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Inspection charts, licence renewal
iNSPECTIONS have become virtually the "password" of the system of control laid down by the Licensing Authorities. They are regarded as the essential preliminary for preventive maintenance of vehicles. In order to try to ensure that inspections are carried out thoroughly, the Licensing Authorities are exacting promises of the regular use of inspection charts as a prerequisite for the grant of a licence. This applies to all newcomer applications. The Authorities have such vast powers to grant or refuse applications that newcomers have no option but to toe the line and comply.
Established operators may be in for a shock when they start submitting renewal applications from next March 1. Although the process may be colloquially described as a renewal, in fact the form to be used will be the GV79, which is an application for a new licence. So existing operators will come under the identical processing to which newcomers are already subjected. This includes a requirement from applicants to state (a) the frequency of inspections and (b) the particular type of inspections chart to be used.
The import of this word "inspections" is taking a long time to sink in. It is something quite different from servicing and maintenance as laid down by the vehicle manufacturers. The word has to be taken in its literal sense; in itself, it merely means a "looking at'', and does not permit even a spanner to be applied to the vehicle. Obviously, the carrying out of any repairs shown to be needed is an essential consequence; but this is a second and subsequent step.
When licence holders submitted their applications for operators' licences in December 1969, they gave several undertakings relating to inspections, including the promises of regular inspections and the retention of the records of inspection for 15 months. The crucial question is whether this required the use of an inspection chart.
It is an interesting point whether the non-use of an inspection chart could become a bar to the renewal of a licence. The answer will turn a great deal on individual cases and on the results of vehicle examinations which will accompany licence renewals. The basic reality is that the proof of every pudding is its eating. Mr H. E. Robson, the Eastern LA, recently stated in court that the effectiveness of inspection charts depended a great deal on the carefulness and efficiency of the people using them. This is true. If operators can meticulously implement a system of preventive maintenance without the use of charts, then charts are mere additional paperwork without real advantage. But this explanation will not assist those operators whose vehicles for any reason start to fall under criticism from the vehicle examiners. The use of inspection charts will be their only hope of salvation.
Ralph Cropper