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Road and workshop
Page 45
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by Handyman
Manpower, maintenance
and the MoT (8)
• No maintenance miracles need be expected when MoT testing begins! So what we must do now is to discover what means are available to overcome. or better still bypass obstacles. It could be that at present we are a bit too hidebound to spot any loophole. ..
In the past I have written of the almost shattering effect of the incidence of unscheduled work upon availability and of our having grown to accept much of this as a way of life in haulage. This may well be what will really hit profitability later when availability is further reduced. So has not the time arrived when we must reduce this to an acceptable level?
If this can be achieved, our existing maintenance teams will cope, and quite well too. In fact even if testing represent
ed a further 2 per cent reduction in availability when in full swing, the means of
cancelling out this loss is well within our grasp, when we look.at the 3 or 5 per cent of unscheduled work that is always with us.
Therefore in taking a close look at the problem, let me first ask: What is really meant by unscheduled repair? Are we not looking at several factors; (1) any kind of road accident which puts a vehicle in a workshop; (2) premature failure of a new vehicle: (3) "campaign" changes of new vehicle parts: 14) slightly more legitimate breakage or failure of a gear, valve head, rear axle bearing. oil pump drive, or other part that is concealed from us. But a fifth factor is the real "crunch"— it is work caused by rough use, ignorance, lack of thought or interest.
It is indeed sad that this "I'm all right Jack" attitude, even among a limited number of men, can be the root cause of three-fifths of the total unscheduled work passing through a repair shop. If in any doubt about this last statement, add two words to the side of your daily garage work log. i.e., "scheduled and unscheduled". Tick each job done, honestly and appropriately in the correct column for two weeks, and you will be able to write the rest of this article!
All jokes aside, the need for MoT testing in any case sprang from a combination of two things: a deliberate neglect and ignorance of vehicle needs: unscheduled repairs beating the efforts of the existing team to cope. What resulted was that the MoT amassed indisputable evidence that there was indeed a grave situation within general haulage.
Before looking at facts under unscheduled, it is worth remembering that years ago a driver and his vehicle were very much a team, full employment for both hinging completely upon availability and reliability. While there is no wish to return to those harder days. so unlike today with its guarantee of full employment despite trading difficulties, there is no reason at all why the driver of today should not play a more interested and therefore vital role in the industry he serves.
Today we have degenerated to a situation where a £5,000 outfit is taxed and handed over to a driver with as little thought or ceremony as would be a pick, shovel or wheelbarrow, the main priority apparently being to put someone in the cab and get it roiling in search of revenue. From then on it wins or loses out by the treatment it receives, yet upon this_ treatment will hinge the measure of both profitability and maintenance costs.