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Chief Constable Slates Operators
Page 11
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OVERLOADINO and unsafe loads, vehicles that smoke and artics that jack-knife were severely criticized by Mr. W. E. Watson, chief constable of Stoke-on-Trent, at an open meeting in Hanley on Tuesday organized by the West Midland Maintenance Advisory Committee.
After stating that there was an "extraordinary amount' of overloading, Mr. Watson emphasized that the efficiency of the vehicle as well as the margin of road safety was reduced by overloading. " It's a very bad thing" he said "for any vehicle to be overloaded even if it is new." On unsafe toads he particularly mentioned insecure high loads as a hazard in windy weather and on corners. In some cases loads collapsed in the middle.
Operators often tried to excuse black smoke, added Mr. Watson, as a "spontaneous and unpredictable" phenomenon resulting from the vagaries of injectors, it was generally found that other parts of the power unit were also badly maintained.
Was artic jack-knifing the result of unbalanced braking, asked Mr. Watson. It was very common. That very day he had had to make a diversion because of a lack-knifed outfit. He also appealed to operators to enforce the speed limit regulations to promote efficiency as well as safety. Unfortunately drivers often drove at high speeds to have a linger, time in the cards.
Mr. R. W. Bent, Misistry of Transport mechanical engineer of the West *Midland Traffic Area, said that vehicle designers paid too little attention to simplifying maintenance and mentioned the use of rubber suspension as a favourable vehicle feature that had yet to be developed for goods vehicles. Mr. Bent then drew attention to the report of the Road Research Laboratory which indicated that brake failure was incidental to 20 per cent of the accidents investigated. He urged operators who adopted a " maintenance as necessary" policy to ensure that inspections were organized on a sound basis and that the mechanic in charge had the assistance of a mate.
Mr. R. F. Groves, service director of Joseph Lucas (Sales and Service) Ltd., said that black smoke was often the outcome of a low power-to-weight ratio. If greater power were required, consideration should be given to employing a turbocharger. Also, excessive smoking was often caused by over-cooling.
Although smoke meters "could do a good job" it was preferable to test for smoke visually on a known gradient.
Asked during the discussion for his comments on smoke testing, Mr. Bent said that M.0.T. examiners were not concerned with borderline cases but with those that any normal operator would agree were indictable. Smoke was often the result of a combination of faults such as a worn engine, choked air filter and worn pump. Examiners would like to employ a smoke meter but no suitable instrument was available. In the absence of an efficient meter that could be applied easily without particular skill, smoke was checked visually.
Later Mr. Groves referred to smoke control additives as palliatives and said that he did not know of an additive that actually cured smoking.
In reply to a visitor's claim that marker lights on articulated trailers tended to dazzle the driver through the rear window, Mr. J. Furness of the M.o.T. said that he would not have thought that this was a serious probkm.