Sewn times unlucky for A9 Haulage
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• A D-registered Iveco Ford 220.30 has failed its DTp annual inspection seven times in the past three weeks. A9 Haulage of Aviemore, which owns the truck, has lost over £7,500 through having it off the road and has not been offered a temporary replacement.
Bill Allen, the vehicle inspector at Livingstone Test Centre near Edinburgh, says that he had to fail the truck because of brake inefficiency in the drive wheels, but Gordon Clifton, managing director of Glasgowbased Iveco Ford dealer Laidlaw says: "To drive the vehicle you would not think that anything was wrong."
On inspection it appeared that the brake linings on the unit's drive wheels had become glazed, suggesting that either the variable load sensing valve was not functioning properly or that the truck was consistently used to haul loads that were well below its design capacity.
A9 says the 220.30 has been operating at the maximum 38 tonnes throughout the year and managing director Martin Harrower is convinced that too much braking pressure has been directed to the front wheels by a faulty load sensing valve: "I had the front brakes replaced when the truck was six months old at a cost of 2700. The linings had worn right through," he says.
An Iveco Ford spokesman, however, feels that the linings were glazed because of underuse: "If you operate a 6x2 unit you should match it with a compatible trailer. The 220.30 is capable of 44 tonnes GVW and although running at 38 tonnes the location of the trailer's bogie, together with the relatively short overhang at the front of the trailer from the king-pin, reduces the weight on the unit's rear axles. This will cause the linings to glaze," he says.
A9 is adamant that the unit has always rim at maximum capacity. "It has to be the load sensing valve. I wanted Laidlaw to change the whole valve assembly but it will not," says Harrower. Clifton says that the valves were checked before each inspection and proved to be functioning properly. On Thursday (17 December) he stated that further work had been done to the valve and he was now "delighted with its performance. The vehicle is to be inspected tomorrow and it will pass".
El As Commercial Motor closed for press this week, the A9 truck passed its test.