Discharge over artic lost wheel
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• Econofreight United Transport has won an absolute discharge for using a vehicle with dangerous parts when one of the heavy haulier's articulated low-loaders lost two rear wheels from the nearside on the M62 Motorway.
Morley Magistrates were told that the incident had occurred on 4 January 1988 on the eastbound carrigeway at Tingley.
Stephen Kirkbright, for the company, said wheel loss by heavy goods vehicles was an almost daily occurrence in this country. It had become known in the transport industry as the "lost wheels mystery". In this case, the trailer had been inspected by Econofreight on 29 December 1987, when the nuts had been torqued up to the required strength. The driver had even checked the wheels before starting his journey.
Consulting engineer Ivan Ratcliffe said modern vehicles are running with the same size wheel studs as 20 years ago, when the weight limit was 22 tonnes. He told the court that in this case there had been very little elongation of the holes and very little damage to the studs which suggested a quick detachment.
He agreed with Kirkbright that aircraft with similar problems would have been grounded long ago. He said that interim research reports indicated that it was a design problem rather than one of maintenance. He felt that modern vehicles were now operating very near to, or even beyond, the safety margin. There was nothing more that Econofreight could have done.
Roy Pickard, fleet engineer of Econofreight, said the company had been aware of the problem for some years and its drivers were instructed to make daily checks, using a wheelbrace.