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Age of fleet is implicated in large number of prohibitions
Page 34
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HEBBURN, TYNE & Wear-based-Phoenix Steel escaped with a warning over maintenance despite attracting 17 prohibitions in five years.
A director admitted that they had not paid enough attention to the transport side of the business.
Phoenix holds a restricted licence for six vehicles and two trailers; it appeared before North-Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett.
Vehicle examiner James Johns reported that over the past five years 17 prohibitions had been issued to the company's vehicles and trailers, including nine immediate prohibitions and two variation notices. One of the trailers had been refused prohibition clearance three times.
The initial pass rate at annual test was 25% and many of the test failures had been caused by low brake efficiency Most of the vehicles were between 10 and 15 years old, which could be one reason for the number of prohibitions, he added. The other concern was the obvious nature of many of the defects.
In reply to Jonathan Backhouse, who appeared for the company. Johns said that he had no problem with the systems which were now in place. In 2003 the company had followed his advice by cutting its inspections period to four weeks.
Director Ian Fuesdale said he had not realised that the initial pass rate was so low and that the company's directors now had regular discussions with their maintenance contractor rather than waiting forsomething logo wrong.
The fleet had been rejuvenated with five newer vehicles and they would soon be replacing the sixth.
Fuesdale admitted that the directors had not been as involved in the detail of the transport operation as much as they should have been.