Growing firm's wings are clipped
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E2A Cheshire family business which blamed maintenance problems on its rapid expansion has had its licence curtailed by five vehicles.
Alan's Skip Hire of Bretton, near Chester, was called before Welsh Traffic Commissioner David Dixon following nine prohibition notices and convictions for defective brakes and speed limiters (CM 25-31 May). The company holds a licence for 25 vehicles, with 19 in possession.
Vehicle examiner David Rowlands said he examined five vehicles in December and issued four advisory notices for borderline defects. The stated inspection period was six weeks but this was not being followed: there were gaps of up to 18 weeks and there was no inspection pit.
Nine immediate prohibitions had been issued since April 1998, Rowlands added, including four showing a significant maintenance failure. He felt that six weeks was too long between inspections.
For the company, Ruth Holmes said the company's business had expanded rapidly and it had been unable to keep up. She pointed out that one prohibition had been issued minutes after a vehicle had passed its annual test—director Neil Hassell said it had not even left the test station.
He maintained that loose bolts on a sec
ond vehicle were not very loose, and claimed that the fractured body member found on a third vehicle had no effect on load security.
Following these problems the firm had taken on more fitters, said Hassall, and more spares were kept in stock. The vehicles were now inspected every four weeks and the driver defect reporting system had been improved.
They had an account with the Vehicle Inspectorate and the vehicles would be roller brake tested at least every 10 weeks. Hassall promised to buy a mechanical lift before the end of November.
The company had an excellent road safety record, said Holmes, and a number of vehicles had been stopped since February without any problems.
Cutting the licence, the IC said the prohibition record was a bad one for a fleet of 19 vehicles and he was not confident that the company could run more than 20 vehicles properly. He would not consider any increase for at least a year.