Veteran's licence cut after standards sli
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Cumbrian operator who was said to be embarrassed to be at his first public inquiry after nearly 30 years in the business has had his licence cut from three vehicles to two.
Harry Stagg, trading as HI Stagg Plant Hire & Haulage, of Barrow-in-Furness, had been called before North Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell after maintenance problems.
Vehicle examiner Brian Hayhurst said that following an immediate prohibition showing a significant maintenance failure in February he carried out a maintenance investigation the following month. The only operational vehicle, which had just been acquired, was in a satisfactory condition.
Maintenance had been contracted out to a local garage but Stagg had stopped using it, relying instead on a self-employed fitter. Hayhurst added that Stagg had no maintenance facilities; the fitter worked from a van. There were no maintenance records and no forward planner.
An immediate prohibition had been issued in November 1997 for a seized load-sensing valve, he reported. The vehicle prohibited in February had an insecure brake chamber and a bulging tyre side wall. He agreed that its brakes were working.
For Stagg, Andrew Woolfall produced two records to show the vehicle had recently been inspected. A nil driver defect reporting system was being introduced and the truck would be roller brake tested at the local test station every three months.
Stagg said the prohibited vehicle was no longer being used. He had stopped using the commercial garage about two years ago because the vehicle was often left in their yard for two or three days when it went in for inspection. He now had a wallchart showing inspections every four weeks and he had access to an inspection pit.
He had had a hip replaced and he accepted that for a period his maintenance system had not been what it should have been. He did not think he would run three vehicles again.
In reply to the TC, Sta agreed that inspections were carried out in his yard in the open.
Bell cut the licence to two vehicles after receiving a number of undertakings from Stagg about his maintenance arrangements. She called for a further maintenance investigation in a year's time, telling Stagg: "You have been straightforward and I think we can do business."