SHOP TALK
Page 91
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• On first sight the latest crop of braking and emissions regulations, proposed or published, are bad news for workshops. Auto slack adjusters take a job away from the workshop, adding a hydrocarbon test to the MOT will make a lot of equipment obsolete and ABS is a nightmare.
Adding a hydrocarbon test may be welcome from an environmental point of view but it should be introduced at the same time as the CO test. Is the Department of Transport going to compensate all those who have invested in CO meters?
Mandatory fitment of automatic slack adjusters on brakes does take a job out of the workshop. But, however vital that job is it is a menial task and few will mourn its passing.
Diagnosing faults on ABS systems is not a menial task, it is a highly skilled one and one that most owner operators will not be able to carry out. That means more work for the workshop and work that commands a good rate.
In addition, the compulsory fitment of ABS will mean that the electronic manufacturers could well be looking for more service agents — a good opportunity for well-mannered and equipped workshops.
The result of this new legislation is that those who mend trucks will be perceived as technicians not grease monkeys — that must be good news.