BREAKDOWN QUESTIONS • As general manager of Cumbria Commercial Vehicles,
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one of the companies featured in your article "On a dark and stormy night" (CM 12-18 November 1987), I feel impelled to tell the other side of the story.
On the evening the breakdown call was received the writer was present and in fact was counselled by the shift supervisor as to whether there was any help nearer to the failed vehicle that could speed up the rescue. However, it was realised that as this was a Mercedes-Benz emergency call, we were required to make a commitment as to an estimated time of arrival and a forecast of Ph hours was given.
At the same time it was realised that the first-call workshop van was already on duty. This van is fully equipped and carries interior racking with a full complement of spare parts normally associated with roadside breakdowns. It also carries portable gas bottles with welding and cutting torches together with a range of towing and light recovery equipment. Our back-up 210 van was therefore required and while this vehicle was being prepared, the second breakdown call-out mechanic was phoned to return to the workshops. As his journey back to Carlisle would take some 20 minutes, the shift supervisor decided to supplement the "first aid kit" that is held in the workshops and can be easily put into any type of support vehicle, with some appropriate parts that might be required for this particular breakdown.
The mechanic duly arrived at .8.10pm and then went to the breakdown. His directions were to the area of the Little Chef near the village of Lindale on the A590 and to look for a T Brady and Son MercedesBenz 2035 tractor unit parked in a lay-by.
However, he passed by the Mercedes without recognising it. Perhaps it was because it was dark by this time and the truck was not too obvious; or that it was not connected to the usually very obvious and distinctive Brady and Son curtain-sided trailer, that our mechanic proceeded to the Little Chef. After checking if it was there, he then drove a further 15 miles to Ulverston in an attempt to locate it. At Ulverston, he phoned the supervisor and the location was again discussed. It was-agreed that he would return to the Little Chef at Lindale and phone again if unsuccessful.
Upon his return to the Little Chef, the mechanic asked the forecourt attendant if he had been approached by the driver of a broken-down lorry and after being told no, he returned to his van. He then became aware of a person running towards him who was eventually identified as the driver of the failed Mercedes tractor unit, Mr English. He and the mechanic returned to the vehicle. While travelling they discussed the nature of the breakdown and this enabled our mechanic to form the opinion that the unloader valve was the defective component. Upon arrival, he proceeded straight to the position of this valve.
While he was kneeling by the side of the unit he became aware of a steady hiss of air underneath the cab. He quickly located the noise as emanating from the compressor pipe which when examined was found to be loose and was easily resecured. He assures me that this was by use of two spanners, albeit that one was an adjustable.
While waiting for the air pressure to build up, our mechanic recorded on his breakdown sheet the chassis number. Once full air pressure had been achieved and the unloader valve was successfully controlling pressure again, Mr English was asked to select gears and, following four or five gear lever movements which were confirmed by the illuminated display on the dashboard, our mechanic decided that all was in order. He claims that with the fault being of such a basic nature, and with his general experience of 2035 vehicles being void of petty defects, it never occurred to him that any further testing would be necessary and as such he drove back to Carlisle.
To conclude by claiming that Cumbria Commercial Vehicles were not guilty of some critic ism would be naïve. However it would perhaps have been a little more constructive for Mr English to have investigated a reason for the use of a van that only carried a 'first aid kit' and to have enquired of the mechanic if he had noted sufficient vehicle identity and mileage. This could possibly have permitted a less aggressive and more accurate log of events. At the tail end of a long and tiring day, two somewhat frustrated people met and, although the repair was totally successful and Brady confirms that no further attention has since been necessary to the compressor pipe, the article leaves the reader with the impression that nothing other than total annoyance to Mr English was achieved.
On Wednesday last, probably when the article was being printed, the fact that the same mechanic spent from 4am in the morning until almost lunch time using the same experience in helping to free a trapped passenger in an accidentdamaged Mercedes 814 does little to set right what went wrong on the night of your breakdown. What it does do, however, is to emphasise that in a "people" business, personalities are the hardest quality of all to manage. Service is about people and regrettably it is only when something goes wrong that one's qualities are advertised.
Ian Fowler General manager Cumbria Commercial Vehicles Carlisle FAN MAIL • Great magazine — keep up the good work.
B Prosser Portland Road Weymouth