Smoke, Maintenance and Labour M UCH has been said recently about
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smoke emission and also the lost men of industry. As a qualified vehicle fitter I would like, through the medium of your paper, to comment upon both these matters.
The main cause of smoke must be poor maintenance of an under-powered vehicle, but surely the haulage operator is first at fault through his insistence on under-powered a48 vehicles with a view to the fullest economy on operation.
The other side of the picture must be maintenance. Many operators run vehicles to capacity yet still operate vehicles on a shoe-string budget, with the Consequence of fitting staff of poor calibre and lack of funds for suitable spares and replacements. Shoe-string operators are many and they are fact not fantasy! The condition of many vehicles is faulty through lack of standardization by operators in demanding that fitters be fully conversant with all types and makes. But operators make no provision for maintenance crews to take advantage of manufacturers' training courses, with the result that a lot of hit and miss maintenance is carried out.
Where are the young men of industry? Reluctance of many large fleet operators to give recognition to many suitable applicants is causing a shortage in the transport field. Transport promotion is still of the old school tie tradition. Responsible men in transport still refuse to train applicants, or will not admit that some young men have the potential for leadership or responsibility—in case those at the helm at present should become redundant.
Dudley, Worcs. D. M ATHEWS.