THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR News of the Week
Page 16
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Action Relating to Motor-Vehicle Repairs
report of the Motor Vehicle 1 Maintenance Advisory Committee, of winch Mr. W. E. Rootes was chairman, has been under the consideration of the Ministries of Supply and War Transport. Action has been taken to give effect to certain of the principal recommendations. Manufacturers and distributors are asked to prevent the hoarding of spare parts by rationing their customers. As a means to this end, a scheme has been prepared to ensure that no spare parts • in short supply will be released except for vehicles immobilized, or likely to be so, for want of these. Halkied stocks will
be requisitioned. ;rip
The building of ndn-sta:ndard vehicles out of used parts Collected from various others and supplemented by new spares should he stopped, as tending to use these parts wastefully; it also throws supplies opt of balance and tends to the construction of unsafe vehicles. In this connection, the, cooperation of makers and distributors of spare parts has been enlisted.
The two Ministries are arranging that when new or repaired parts are issued to operators all suitable warn parts shall be returned to manufacturers for reconditioning.
To put into effect the suggestion that
an adequate force of motor mechanics shall he retained in the maintenance shops. both for vital civilian work and repairs to some of the Army's mechanized equipment, the Ministry. of War Transport is acting to ensure that a
sufficiency of this labour is available.
Measures should be taken to promote the training of men, women and boys as motor mechanics, both in, Ministry of Labour training establishments and within the repairing industry. The -former is making rapid progress with its schemes and has started three-four months' courses, designed not to give specialized training, but to provide trainees with a background stifficient to make them useful maintenance mechanics. The Ministry is also discussing with the .industry the develop ment of training-in repair shops.
The suggestion that the repair staffs at the two Ministries should be strengthened and repair facilities surveyed is being followed. The survey is now in progress, and appointments have been made at both Ministries, including that of Mr., F. G. Smith as Adviser on Repairs.
Action to meet requirements as to, new spare parts and new vehicles is being taken, but production is bound to he limited by increasing demands, such as that for tanks.
Other recommendations endorsed include the release of Army spar* parts for civilian use where vitally necessary, the addition of all spare parts to the list, of " essential traffics " on the railways, and measures for accelerating the ,procedure for dealing with claims for compensation for premises and plant of, road transport undertakings and vehicle-repair shops damaged by enemy action,