Improvements win day
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• Because ot improvements in maintenance at Northern Irish haulier Dukes Tr a nsp o r t (Craigavon), no action was taken against the company when it appeared at a Manchester disciplinary inquiry before North Western Licensing Authority Martin Albu.
Renewing the company's international licence for 42 vehicles and two trailers based at Heysham Docks, Albu said he considered its appearance at public inquiry was a sufficiently salutary lesson.
Vehicle examiner Brian Hayhurst said Dukes currently operated 26 tractor units from Heysham. He had examined six vehicles, issuing one delayed prohibition for one defect and three defect notices. At present the trailers are maintained in Northern Ireland but he understood that the operation was moving to I leysham.
Over the past five years there had been 10 immediate and 17 delayed prohibitions issued to Duke's vehicles and trailers. He considered the maintenance arrangements at Heysham were generally satisfactory but would need improving if the trailers were to be maintained there. The number of prohibitions issued gave cause for some concern, For Dukes, Jonathan Lawton said it operated 280 vehicles and 440 trailers and had five operating centres in different traffic areas. Many of the prohibitions related to vehicles not based in the North-West. Each depot carried out its own operations, although trailers moved from one depot to another.
New maintenance systems had been introduced after a public inquiry in the Eastern Traffic Area in June.
Asked who was responsible for maintaining the trailers, Lawton said overall control of the trailers was exercised from the company's headquarters in Portadown. The trailers were maintained there or at the depot where they were when due for a maintenance inspection. A computer system has been installed which controlled the trailers. It was not possible to say how many trailers would be main tained at Heysham, where an extra bay was being negotiated for trailer maintenance.
Personnel director Graham White said a copy of each inspection record was kept at the depot where the inspection was made and a copy sent to Portadown.
Group fleet engineer Douglas Ritchie was appointed in June. He said his role was to travel round the depots and audit the maintenance from an engineering point of view. Trailers were inspected every six weeks and the full trailer maintenance files were held in Portadown.
Lawton said Dukes had been horrified at the maintenance position discovered at its Crick, Northants, depot, which had led to the Cambridge disciplinary inquiry.
An investigation revealed that it had been a managerial problem and for a number of reasons it was felt right to review the maintenance system.
Albu said the vehicle examiner had been justifiably concerned about the Duke's prohibition record and the capabilities of the Heysham depot to cope with trailers. However, the situation had improved and he was satisfied the company could operate 42 vehicles from the Heysham site satisfactorily.