Cut for haulier with too few vehicle checks
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Cooper & Woodward Ltd of Sheffield
• Maintenance problems have led to the five-vehicle licence held by Cooper & Woodward Ltd, of Sheffield, being cut to three vehicles by North Eastern LA Frederick Whalley.
A vehicle examiner said that he had imposed two delayed prohibition notices after inspecting the company's four operational vehicles. The condition of the two vehicles was not consistent with an effective system of preventive maintenance. Inspections were said to be carried out by a driver who was semi-skilled.
The LA was told the company had access to an inspection pit at another operator's premises, but it was admitted that it had not been used as much as it should have been. Most of the more serious defects found were on the underside and a factor affecting the depth of inspection was the absence of an inspection pit or an undercover working area at the company's base, where the majority of inspections were being carried out The vehicle examiner said he did not think that it had been the company's intention to run defective vehicles.
Director and transport manager Alan Woodward said that his father, who had run the business, was 73 years' old and was to retire shortly. Since Alan Woodward had taken over as transport manager in September, he said he had completely changed the system. The vehicles were now inspected by Star Distribution Ltd every 8,000km or six weeks, whichever was the sooner.
Questioned by the LA, Woodward said that he was unable to say what the company's turnover or costs were as he did not handle the financial side. However, he had never experienced any shortage of money for the maintenance of the vehicles. He agreed that the licence had been granted on the strength of a contract with a commercial garage.
Curtailing the licence, which expires on September 30, 1987, the LA said the undertakings given when the licence was granted had not been honoured. Recent maintenance records showed that the laid down intervals between inspections in the new contract were even not being kept.
The LA said he was curtailing the licence partly as a penalty and partly because he had no confidence that the new arrangements were capable of properly maintaining the number of vehicles authorised by the licence.