Authorisation cut after prohibitions
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by Derren Hayes
• The Operators Licence held by Kent-based Albert Fisher Carriers has been cut by six vehicles and three trailers following 19 prohibitions over the past four years.
A Cambridge public inquiry before Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Phillip Brown heard that since 1991 the company had faced 13 immediate and six delayed prohi bitions, many stemming from irregularities in maintenance checks on its fleet.
Vehicle Inspectorate traf fic examiner Roger Mayes said while most of the vehicles were checked every two to three months, there were gaps of up to two years between checks on some trailers.
The inquiry was called after a check at the company's depot on 19 December 1995 revealed loose axle bolts on a trailer, resulting in an immediate prohibition. Mayes said this defect was long standing and should have been spotted at the last inspection.
Mark Fisher, for the company, said long gaps between maintenance checks had occurred because many of the trailers were left standing for some time due to the type of work that they were used for.
Mayes replied that long periods of inactivity should be written into the trailer records. "If I find gaps of 12 months the first thing I think is vehicles have not been inspected," he said.
The inquiry also heard how the company had received a written warning in May 1993 and had been fined more than £2,000 in September 1995 for using an untaxed vehicle.
The company put much of the blame for these problems on its former transport manager and said it had installed a forward planning system for maintenance checks with driver defect report books.
Cutting the company's licence to 15 vehicles and 18 trailers, Brown said the decision shouldn't affect the company's business operations because it had not been running at its full authorisation, but he instructed the VI to inspect the fleet in 12 months' time.