Who's happy with UK mt...
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I REFER to the article (CM March 7) "Do you get what you deserve at 16-tons?", We operate a fleet of some 140 delivery vehicles 12-14-16 tons gross, and we most certainly have not been getting what we want from British industry.
Between the end of 1974 and the end of 1979 we purchased 108 vehicles. We have had major engine problems on 71 of them — a premature failure rate of 66 per cent!
Many of the repairs were, it is true, carried out under warranty and, in some cases, the manufacturers made a contribution to the repair cost. But, apart from the £50,000 of costs that we have had to pay ourselves, there is a quite unacceptable amount of time off the road and expense in supplying or hiring spare vehicles.
The manufacturers at your meeting seemed to think they were supplying the right vehicles for the job. They simply are not.
They may have the right amount of power, and the right weight for delivery work, but they must be made more reliable. We are not looking for a high-specification, highpowered vehicle to do 1,000/2,000 miles a week, but, surely, we should be able to expect a better than one in three chance of an engine managing 100,000 miles!
A. F. MENZIES Director of distribution Reckitt & Colman Hull, Yorks