Less time so fewer trucks
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or„ •Maintenance
problems led to both the duration and the vehicle authorisation of Rothwell heavy haulier Vanguard Vehicle Services' licence being cut by North Eastern Licensing Authority Fred Whalley. The authorisation was reduced from 15 to 12 vehicles, and the licence expiry was brought forward to June 1993.
DTp vehicle examiner John Fielding said that the issue of eight immediate prohibitions during roadside checks had led to a maintenance investigation. He inspected four vehicles and three trailers, issuing three prohibition notices.
Director John Liversidge claimed that the majority of prohibitions were down to the nature of the work, but Whalley pointed out that the company had appeared at a previous public inquiry because of its maintenance record. He said he could not accept that only one or two prohibitions could be attributed to the way the vehicles were maintained.
After Whalley had commented that something was going wrong, in the light of the number of convictions recorded against the company, director Alan Liversidge said the transport manager had had health and matrimonial problems. Since he had taken over his responsibilities nine months ago, the record has been getting a lot better.
Gary Hodgson, for Vanguard, said the company was constantly seeking to improve. It seemed that what was wrong with the maintenance system was still unidentified.
Warning that a further public inquiry could lead to the revocation of the licence, Whalley said Vanguard had clearly put its house in order for a while but matters had got out of control again. He pointed out that it had recently also had two warnings, one for illegal parking and one for drivers' hours.