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Walon waits on TC's decision after maintenance problems
Page 33
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NATIONWIDE CAR transporter Walon must wait to see what action Western Traffic Commissioner Philip Brown will take against the licence it holds in his area following maintenance problems at its Southampton depot.
The company, which is licensed for 231 vehicles and 231 trailers, with 142 vehicles and 142 trailers in possession, was called before the TC at a Bristol public inquiry. He heard details of prohibitions imposed on Southampton-based vehicles and trailers, most of which related to brake defects, and of annual test failures.lbere had also been a lost wheel.
UK fleet operations manager Simon Parsons said maintenance was contracted out, mostly to main dealers. The company was looking at the age of the vehicles, the driver defect reporting system, additional maintenance providers and better standards of monitoring.
Referring to brake efficiency problems at annual test, Parsons said they were providing load weights, but the car transporter design did not lend itself to load weights. They used sandbags and cars, but it was not possible to use concrete block load simulators. Parsons said he had been surprised by the test history and claimed the company was not always informed of initial failures by the maintenance providers.Vehicles had been withdrawn from one provider.
Nationally,150 vehicles had been replaced at a cost of £15m.They insisted on disc brakes on the trailers as historically brakes had been a problem. The inspection frequency had been reduced from 13 to eight weeks and would be reduced further to six. Roller brake testing was now undertaken three times a year.
The TC will announce his decision in writing.