Know-how 46: Preventive Maintenance (31) local vehicles
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CO FAR in this series, emphasis has been IJ placed mainly on the care of the larger, long-distance vehicle, with no mention of local vehicles on collection and delivery, feeder vehicles, tippers or special equipment.
While it is now accepted that any vehicle carrying less than 10 tons can hardly earn its keep on long distance, there is still a need for the smaller vehicle on short hauls and town work. And whereas the small artic has merit in that a trailer to unit ratio of one and a half or two to one can be of value in helping both customer and operator, there is still a liking and a demand for the under 8-ton rigid, flat, sided or with van body and most general hauliers of any size seem to have at least 10 per cent in this category.
Therefore the Preventive Maintenance system must take them under its wing, fit them into a programme and keep them fit and clear of GV9s.
The local collection and delivery fleets are always in the public eye. In fact they are much more so than the larger trunkers "sailing" past sheeted down, wet and muddy after a rough passage, and there is a natural tendency to assess haulage companies by the appearance of their local fleets. Without doubt a clean and tidy local vehicle will always make a good impression on the customer.
Spick and span How to keep a spick and span appearance is another matter and by no means easy, since as with trunk work, local traffic movement has priority over everything else. Unless the local manager or foreman is fastidious by nature, and prepared to devote effort to vehicle appearance, matters will rest very much with the engineer.
However, the engineer has by now certain yardsticks to go by. The first can be a repeat of the earlier attack on the trunk fleet, that is, a good clean up, full inspection and condition report. Then a check on weekly mileage, selection of the best service interval, which in the main will hinge on four-weekly periods, except where a particular vehicle is recording a really high mileage, say from 24-hour duty.
Past experience has shown that maintaining a busy local fleet can cost almost as much as the larger vehicles if left to run on with repairs only to those items that fail. And, as ever in these cases, the only controlling factor is the interest or otherwise of the driver.
This is the road to nowhere, or could be the road to somewhere unpleasant, if it results in being picked up by the MoT and getting an immediate GV9, or at best a lengthy delayed one. While most longdistance drivers will automatically see to it that at all times their brakes, lights and steering' are in good condition and will make a noticeable fuss if they are the slightest bit on the "blink", the same cannot be said for vast numbers of local drivers.
Biggest mistake The biggest mistake is to assume that because of the absence of breakdowns, local vehicles must be reasonably serviceable. Recent MoT activity has shaken quite a number of local and small operators to the core. They have had to burn the midnight oil in order to obtain the vital GVIO.
However, this situation need not apply, nor need the answer be expensive, if the preventive drill of short-period inspection, service, rectification and test is applied. This is because several things then automatically follow: an early uplift in condition and appearance, a lessening risk of GV9s or Police action, and with this, the all-important return of driver interest.
It is a fact that as far as vehicle welfare is concerned, driver interest is a fair reflection of the interest shown by management. In other words, as with tyres you reap what you sow. . . .