Tipper on final warning
Page 18
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• Derbyshire tipper operator Timothy Birchenough's 17
vehicle licence has been cut by two vehicles, and three further vehicles have been suspended for a month following convictions and maintenance problems.
Buxton-based Birchenough was called before North Western Traffic Commissioner Keith Waterworth because of concern over his maintenance standards and a series of vehicle excise duty offences.
Vehicle examiner Geoffrey Davidson told the TC that he carried out a maintenance check in June because of the large number of prohibition notices that had been issued. He examined eight vehicles, issuing three defect notices. There was evidence of very recent repair to the vehicles concerned. Maintenance was carried out by David Woods, a skilled fitter/driver who was also the nominated transport manager.
In the past five years, 12 immediate and 10 delayed prohibitions had been issued, said Davidson, three of which were varied when vehicles were produced for clearance.
Loose wheelnuts was a common problem; he believed part of the trouble was that drivers were failing to carry out daily checks properly.
There had also been problems with the use of red diesel, the late payment of vehicle excise duty and u mvictions for tachograph offences.
Paul Carless, for Birchenough, said the inspection period for the vehicles on the hardest work had been cut from four Drivers were to three weeks failing to carryand a drivers' nil
defect daily was being intro
properly duced. The vehicles would be brake-roller tested every three months and every third inspection would be carried out by a commercial garage.
Broken springs had caused a lot of the trouble, he added, and a vehicle crossing a public road between two sites had led to the VED and red diesel offences.
Birchenough said he would not do it again as he had lost money by the time the fines were paid. He did not know how an offence of unauthorised use had arisen as he had never operated more vehicles than he was allowed.
Wood had promised to send out the charts for checking by an outside agency twice a year.
Cutting the licence and sus pending three vehicles, Waterworth warned that if his trust was misplaced a second time he would take severe action.