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Vehicle maintenance: 1
Page 49
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• Oldridge, T Eng (CEI), 1111 AMIRTE
jEITION 62 (4) (c) of the -ra sport Act 1 968 requires in pplicant for an operator's ice ce to give "particulars of he facilities and arrangements or ecuring that the vehicles viii be maintained in a fit and ,er iceable condition". Cluesion 17 to 23 on the form GV ?9, "Application for an rator's Licence", all relate to he maintenance arrangements ,hib the applicant intends to )pe ate. This "Declaration of nte tr. is headed by a warning hat promises made concerning nai tenance are expected to be rep , and if they are broken then he icence will be at risk.
Jo doubt
Imost every week CM ep rts some unfortunate pperator being brought to a pub ic inquiry and having his 0 ce revoked, suspended or iled under Section 69 (c) of
I;e Transport Act 1968. This
c ion reads: "The licensing tut ority by whom an ipe ator's licence was granted na direct that it be revoked, us ended or curtailed on any of he ollowing grounds: (c) that the holder of the ence made or procured to b made for the purposes of h s application for the licence, o for the purpose of an appli c tion for the variation of the Ii ence, a statement of fact hich (whether to his knowl
e ge or not) was false, or to a s atement of intention or exp ctation which has not been f
here should be no doubt in ny.ne's mind as to what is eq ired in regard to maintelance to satisfy the LA's eqiiirements. The application orrn for an 0 licence advises all pplicants to read the booklet A Guide to Operator's Licening" which is available free on any Traffic Area Office. The Guide is not itself law, but there is little doubt that if the procedure laid down therein is complied with, then there will be no conflict with the LA or the police as to the manner in which the fleet is maintained.
Mitigation
If by some mischance, a vehicle is found to be defective in some way, and a prosecution follows, then a properly documented maintenance system produced to the court will certainly be considered by the bench as mitigating circumstances when the penalty is being considered.
One cannot over-emphasise the importance of proving to the court that a proper system of maintenance is being used for the vehicles and that the defect complained of could not have been foreseen. As well as securing a smaller fine, the trifling penalty imposed will indicate to the LA, when renewal of the licence is being considered, that the offence was not a serious one.
The maintenance requirements are summarised in the Guide in the following way: (1) There must be a ''preventive maintenance inspections'' where a positive check is made at predetermined intervals of time or mileage on items which affect a vehicle's safety. The period between inspections and whether they are on a time or mileage basis will depend on the type of work on which the vehicles are engaged. If regular journeys are being undertaken, so that the mileage covered is about the same each week, then inspections can be spaced at regular intervals of time.
Where weekly mileages vary greatly, then perhaps inspections calculated on a mileage basis might be better. The frequency of the inspections depends on a variety of factors, probably the most critical being the type of work on which the vehicles are engaged. Quite obviously a tipper on site work or a timber wagon hauling out of a forest will require far more frequent inspections than a van on a regular motorway run.
The items to be checked on these inspections are those listed in the "Goods Vehicle Tester's Manual" obtainable from HMSO, and written records of these inspections must be kept. The Road Haulage Association The Freight Transport Association and most of the major oil companies provide these inspection sheets, or they can be devised by the operator himself.
The Ministry Guide requires that the record should show (i) when and by whom the inspections were carried out, (ii) the results of the inspections, and (iii) when and by whom remedial work is done and details of such work. They may be kept in any form which allows the inspection history of each vehicle to be followed.
(2) Staff carrying out inspections must be aware of the significance of defects and must have the necessary authority to take vehicles off the road to have dangerous defects remedied. One hears, from time to time, of conflict between operating staff and the maintenance staff. Perhaps the traffic manager wants to deliver "just one more load" before the vehicle is "docked". The Guide is quite definite that it is the engineer who must have the last word.
Contracts
An operator who does not run his own workshop but sends his vehicles to the local garage for maintenance is still held responsible by the LA for the condition of his vehicles. It is recommended that a written contract be 6rrangod between the garage and the owner and if this is done a copy of the contract must be submitted with the application form for an C licence.
(3) A system must be pro. vided for drivers to report dc. fects in vehicles to the persor responsible for their mainte. nance. A daily driver's report is advisable and a negative report, if there are no defects present on the vehicle, is desirable. There have been cases where a driver, when reported by the police for driving a defective vehicle, has alleged that he has told his employer about the defect on several occasions and nothing has been done about it.
Unless a proper reporting system is in regular use, it is very difficult to disprove whai the driver has said. If his reports for the relative period can bE produced and they show thw what the driver says is false and in fact, he reported each day that there were no faults presen. on his vehicle, then the firnstands a much better chance if and when, it has to appear be fore the magistrates.
(4) The mechanical conditior of hired vehicles and trailers the direct responsibility of th( "user". In other words if a hire( vehicle has some defect then i is the operator who is using i who will be prosecuted an whose 0 licence will be put a risk.
Essential
The Guide gives advice or the inspection facilities and thE equipment which is needed t( carry out the preventive mainte nance inspections. Relativeh simple equipment is stipulated The essential requirement is tha under-vehicle inspections can b( carried out efficiently at appro priate intervals. The inspect° must have sufficient light to se( individual components, is abl( to examine them at close rang( and can, if necessary, handl( them.
More about maintenance ir the next article, particularly th( documentation necessary.