Leggett's Swindon arm at risk
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• Leggett Freightways has been warned that its licence is at risk if it receives any more prohibition notices for significant maintenance failures. It holds a licence for 16 vehicles and 42 trailers based at Swindon.
Leggett appeared before Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Air Vice-Marshal Ronald Ashford following a series of prohibition notices. Ashford said the company had been written to about maintenance in February 1995 following the issue of five prohibitions. Since then it had been given six prohibitions in 1995 and one in 1996.
Vehicle examiner William Dawson said he examined two vehicles and five trailers in September, all of which were in a satisfactory condition. However, the records showed inspection periods had occasionally been exceeded.
For the company Meinir Mathias said the former Swindon depot manager had not been ensuring the maintenance standards had been kept to. He was replaced and the new transport manager had assured the company that the systems were being properly carried out. However, he did not address matters as well as he should have done and was also replaced.
One prohibition was imposed for an inoperative door lock which was tied up with hessian, No prohibitions had been issued to the Swindon vehicles since August 1995: those issued in November 1995 and March 1996 related to a vehicle hired in from Kammac.
Accepting there had been cause for concern at Swindon, fleet engineer John Linney said that he would be carrying out a monthly audit of the records at Swindon and an independent contractor was being engaged to carry out a quarterly audit Ashford said it was regrettable that a distinguished company like Leggett's, with its splendid record, had to appear at such an inquiry However, its record in the Western Area had become somewhat tarnished.