BREAKDOWN
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TEST
The call to ERF Freeway at 08:00hrs was picked up promptly, and handled by the switchboard operator in a friendly and thorough manner. Having established the vehicle's registration number and its owner, the operator checked the facts against the computer, and having satisfied himself that they tallied with his records, proceeded to note the details of the breakdown.
After checking the driver's name and mobile phone number, the operator confirmed the condition of the vehicle (with trailer or without; laden or unladen; 32 or 38 tonnes?), its location and appearance, and the cause of the problem.
The operator asked if the ERF was under warranty and, despite our non-commital response, said there would be somebody there "within the hour".
A VW van in the colours of an MAN dealer arrived at 09:35hrs. Fitter Tom Taylor explained that the Gerald White Group of Northampton was now an ERF service dealer.
Taylor took on the call when he started work at 09:00hrs (it had been logged in at 08:15hrs) and set off after calling in at the stores for some flexible brake pipe, avoiding the MI in case of traffic delays.
He had been given the correct details about the breakdown, including the nature of the fault ("no air build up") and the driver's mobile phone number.
Our call to Foden proved a bit of a mystery and revealed computer-related problems at National
TRUCKS Breakdown. Its computer holds a list of Foden dealers. However, on the morning of our call this list was less than complete.
We managed to speak to a Fodensure operator at the second attempt. Our first call was put on hold for 30 seconds before being connected to an unattended extension which rang continuously. We called again and were put on hold once more. Our man happens to enjoy Fleetwood Mac so we listened patiently to the music for nearly three minutes before the operator came back and apologised.
Then the mystery began. Charnwood Engineering, the Loughborough-based Foden dealer, could not be found in the computer. Fodensure's operator checked the spelling with us before asking if we knew an address or a telephone number.
Not wishing to do Fodensure's job for it we merely replied that we thought it was in the Midlands.
Fodensure's man had already noted the owner, registration number, and chassis number (useful when dealing with a truck of numerous drivelines). He also had the owner's account number with Charnwood Trucks, but admitted that this was of no use on its own. Our request for help hit a brick walLFodensure could only suggest we call back with the dealer's details; an astounding request under the circumstances.
Fodensure membership might have helped identify the home dealer, though contacting him would not be essential unless he was the one despatching the service van. Foden later assured us Charnwood Engineering is in the computer and has been since 1987. It is hard to believe it wasn't that morning, but this does not alter the fact that we were turned away.
A call from the owner, Elite Contract Hire, to the dealer subsequently corrected the situation and an order number was forthcoming — 39 minutes after our call was made. Because of this problem we will have to test the remainder of this call-out service another day.
IVECO The first reaction when
we called Iveco Ford's Aidline at 08:17hrs was
three minutes of recorded TRUCK music, with no message to confirm the number.
Once the call had been answered the operator asked for a membership number and, in its absence, checked that we had the full company name and address for the vehicle's owner.
Satisfied with this the operator noted the details of the truck, including its registration number, model, whether its load (if any) was hazardous or perishable, and its appearance. Having confirmed where the truck was, the nature of the fault, and a contact number, the operator said help would be on its way.
Nothing more was heard until the recovery van from Northampton dealer Airflow Streamlines arrived at 09:50hrs. Fitter Peter Belsham had taken on the call from a colleague. Airflow had logged the call in at 08: 45hrs.
With the fault being described as nonstart and no air our rescuer had not brought any specific parts with him, having concluded fairly that the lack of air was probably connected with the inability to start. Leyland Daf Aid was contacted at 08:00hrs and the phone was answered immediately and courteously. We told the operator that we had a vehicle with no air; he asked our location, if we could be contacted and if there was anything hazardous on board.
He then asked the driver's name (and used the first name from then on); the vehicle's registration number and the owner's name. The operator fed this information into his computer and, to confirm what the computer was displaying, asked if the vehicle was a 95.310 4x2 tractive unit. He also asked if we knew the chassis number; we said no.
The operator asked who the owner's local Leyland Daf dealer was, but did not request a breakdown account number. Once satisfied with the information he had received he confirmed the problem and location, and told us: "We'll have someone to you within an hour."
He was as good as his word. At 08:40hrs a liveried Escort van pulled into the truckstop and started driving up and down the lines of parked vehicles; it transpired that the main recovery vehicle was out on another call.
Fitter Carlton Lawes had been called out from service and repair dealer Norden Truck Centre of Rugby. He had received the message at 08:15hrs and took 15 minutes to gather up his tools and a crawling board and to put on his dayglow waterproofs. At 08:30hrs he left the workshop for Crick.
Lawes had been told the vehicle had no air and was given its correct location and registration number. He was not given our telephone number.
I—EVA-Ara CIP
13/X
(Th The call to MAN Truck Rescue was made at 08:1 1 hrs, and the first thing the operator wanted was our membership number. Having plugged this into the computer he asked for the vehicle registration and its owner's name. At this point it became clear there was some kind of problem.
Having double-checked these details with us, the operator said that this particular vehcile was entered under the name Truck 2000 (not Elite Contract Hire as we had said), and that there was a problem with this account.
The operator apologised that he could help us no further and suggested we contact the owner to sort out the problem before ringing back.
Before the second day of our test the owner of our ghost MAX tractive unit, Elite Contract Hire & Truck Rental of Stoke-on-Trent, faxed a list of his 12 vehicles to his home dealer, P&O Truck Service of Walsall. It said that a truck had been refused service even though the driver presented details of the dealer and Elite's account.
In fact, the information held on the computer corresponded to the vehicle's previous owner (the now defunct Truck 2000) and had not been updated after the change of ownership.
P&O's service manager, Ron Smith passed the details on to MAN Rescue on the Thursday afternoon so that the necessary changes could be made to the computer.
Friday morning dawned cold and crisp. At 09:00hrs our man again experienced loss of air from his invisible MAN, and duly called MAN Rescue. The venue and all the other details were the same. Except this time we chose a different registration number from the list of 12.
We gave the registration number and the company name.
At this point we were asked again if we were Truck 2000 and we were told that our boss would have to speak to MAN Rescue's accounts department before anything could happen.
Unknown to us, at the time of our second call the revised details of Elite's vehicles were still being settled and had therefore not been added to the computer.
In light of this the operator's response was understandable. Although the matter was resolved later that day, it was obvious that we would have to wait for another occasion to check the recovery part of MAN's breakdown service.
What is clear from our experience, however, is that because MAN Truck Rescue holds details of all the vehicles it covers centrally (actually with AA-BRS which runs the scheme), rather than with the dealers, it is essential for operators to ensure they have supplied up-to-date information.
MAN explains that new trucks are automatically enrolled for the first 12 months, and subsequent re-enrolment is free.
(4)Our call to Mercedes-Benz at 08:00hrs could not have been more straightforward. We were asked details about the vehicle: its colour, registration number and owner, and whether it was loaded. We identified our dealer and were told help would soon be with us. An account number was neither requested nor volunteered. We might have felt•more comfortable, however, had our telephone number been logged.
At 10:45hrs Mick McDonald and the substitute repair van from Arlington Motors of Northampton arrived. He had received the call on his mobile at 09:35hrs while on another job in Luton, some 48km from us. But he had stopped on his way up the M1 for a compressor, some valves and a computer printout which described the job accurately.
The parts he collected were items normally carried on the main van, which was busy on other jobs, he said. RENAULT The call to Renault rescue was made at 08:00hrs. The operator asked for our company name and address; vehicle registration number and problem; whether the vehicle was loaded, and whether it was a rigid or an artic. He promised to contact the nearest dealer and phone us back within the hour.
At 08:30hrs the rescue service called back to ask if there were any leaks and if the pipes were off. We were informed III. Trucks that a service van would arrive in less than 90 minutes and told to look out for a red and white one from Birmingham Trucks. If that was unable to get us on our way again, we would have to be towed.
The van actually arrived at 10:40hrs. Fitter Dennis Smith had received the breakdown call at 09:00hrs and set off around 09:30hrs; he hadn't collected any special parts, but his 50 Series van carried a variety of general spares.
At 11:10hrs another call was received from Birmingham Trucks to ask what it was all about as there had been no breakdown — they thought it might be a Jeremy Beadle TV stuntt Our phone call to Scania Lifeline, at 08:04hrs, was answered promptly and the operator took the details about the fault and our location, He asked the driver's name, if we could be contacted, and details of the load. We were not asked for a breakdown account number.
The operator asked if we thought the compressor was working, then promised to call back, but didn't.
At 10:30hrs a car came into the truckstop, drove around a while and left again only to reappear a few minutes later. In the car was fitter Nick Kay. Not having found the truck he was looking for he had driven to the BP truckstop to look for it. On his return we stopped him and explained why the vehicle he was looking for was nowhere in sight.
Kay said he had driven over from Scartia main dealer Prestige Trucks of Lutterworth. He had been given a message with the vehicle's registration and location, and had been told that a loss of air had caused the brakes to come on. The service van used for breakdowns was out on another call and rather than waiting for it to return he used a car, Locating a vehicle and loading it with his tools, some spare pipes and unions took him about 15 minutes, It took another 15 minutes to get to Crick, •
SCAN IA
The call to Seddon Atkinson at 08:10hrs was answered by Vee and Inline Diesels of Daventry who had no less than three vans on call. Fitter John Berry was out on another call and arrived at 10:50hrs following a model call to SA's Sabre call-out service operated by National Breakdown.
As with Mercedes-Benz, Sabre's operator requested the basic owner, dealer, registration number details and was happy enough with that to despatch assistance. He also noted the nature of the fault, our telephone number, our vehicle's colour and whether or not we had a trailer attached.
John Berry's van was carrying one of everything, it seemed. Starter motors, alternators, wiper motors plus all the usual valves, belts and hoses were crammed into the back of his van.
The call to Volvo breakdown service, at 08:15hrs, was answered quickly and courteously.
We were asked for our name, company name and phone number. With this information the operator was able to ascertain the dealer's name and details. They then asked the colour of the cab, vehicle registration number, what the breakdown was, who had the account and where we were calling from.
The operator promised to contact the nearest dealer who would be with us as soon as possible.
At 08:40hrs Volvo phoned back to confirm that they had contacted the nearest dealer, which was Dawson Freight Commercials of Coventry. Both its breakdown vehicles were out on the road. The operator apologised and told us that one should be with us by 10:30hrs.
The van was on its way by 09:30hrs but finding no truck in the lay-by fitter Ray Grimley in fact continued on his way. We have no reason to doubt his claimed 10:35hrs arrival time. We managed to contact him a bit later and he returned to our location: he had tried to contact us by phone with no success. When asked what equipment he had brought he told us: "All but the major stuff."
VOLVO