Welsh L.A. Told of Many Defective Vehicles
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A FTER hearing of the condition in r1 which vehicles and depots of a large South Wales haulage firm were found when visited by three Ministry of Transport examiners, the South Wales Licensing Author:ty, Mr. Ronald Jackson, commented last week; "I feel that vehicles which are allowed to run about the roads in this condition are just about as dangerous as a little boy with a doublebarrelled shotgun in the middle of Cardiff city with the gun cocked ".
Mr. Jackson was speaking during an application at Cardiff by S. Harfoot and Son Ltd. of Barry for licences to operate six maintenance vehicles-two at each of their bases at Cardiff, Newport and Barry.
The first Ministry examiner to give evidence, Mr. W. Rowe, said when he visited the firm's Cardiff depot and examined the 31 vehicles there he found 19 with defects in the braking system, 15 with steering defects, 13 with defects in suspension, 11 with cab defects, 11 with lighting defects, 10 with transmission defects and 10 with chassis defects. Six vehicles had defects in the exhaust system, four had body defects and three defects causing black smoke to be emitted from the exhaust. Eleven immediate prohibitions were made and eight delayed prohibitions.
A second inspector, Mr. M. L. Thomas, said he examined 28 vehicles at the Barry depot and found steering, . exhaust, chassis, transmission, body, cab, wing, brake and tipping defects totalling 33. Two immediate and 15 delayed prohibitions were issued.
The third examiner, Mr. G. Swain, said he examined 12 vehicles out of 18 at Newport and issued eight immediate and four delayed prohibitions. The total of defects was 30.
Mr. Frank Harfoot, managing director of the company, said the bad weather and coal emergency earlier this year. and the backlog of work this created. were responsible. They had notified the Ministry of Transport of their maintenance difficulties and had advertised for more fitters. The company was trying to overcome its maintenance problems, he assured the Authority.
Mr. Jackson said he thought the company had not expanded its maintenance facilities, while its fleet had grown considerably. He granted short-term licences for six months and said he would then review the position after a further inspection. The Authority added, that it was his policy only to grant maintenance vehicles to people who looked after their lorries well.