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THE TEST MAY GET TOUGHER
Page 115
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by E. James Millen
)UT ONE in four goods vehicles failed the istry of Transport test during the first three iths of its operation. True, these were all 1961 machines but, if it is assumed that had been prepared as never before for so 3rtant an occasion, the results present a er chilling prospect for the industry. Espey as a sample of 750 vehicles showed as many as two in five failed at the first mpt—three-quarters of the failures pass)fl re-test.
re-test.
it possible that the standard of mechaniwell-being demanded is altogether too ? Not according to officials of the Freight sport Association when I spoke to them ntly. And their own successful mainte:e inspection service has given them an ptionally well qualified basis for judgt. The general feeling expressed was that e leniency had been exercised by the MoT the scheme was in its infancy but that ls could be expected to tighten up conably in the near future. The view of the 's chief engineer, Mr. T. J. (Terry) Goldwas that the stations will not be as )le as they have been, "We shall really :he feel of them in the next two months, standard will get higher. The Swansea .ing centre is reaching its peak . . . and iiggest problems are now occurring." the standard gets higher there seems doubt that operators will be looking for help from outside, in which case the scheme and manufacturers' and garages' est services can look forward to some brisk business.
though the FTA scheme is basically d at small and medium-sized operators, / big firms are now included: about 00 vehicles are currently in the scheme. :TA membership covers around 300,000 :les but, as public relations officer, Mr. Guttridge, pointed out, many of these small vans weighing less than 30cwt len and therefore not subject to the s vehicle test. Also, some very large rtors are not in the scheme because they heir own inspection systems. A decisive r for many members, he thought, was )cation of their depots. The chief inspect' the FTA scheme, Mr. Peter Wilson, rked that the FTA was often called in previous maintenance work had been I unsatisfactory.
iereas the Ministry's scheme is a safety the FTA's is a full maintenance inspecwhich can take from 11hr to 24hr icling on vehicle type, and one of the )tages of having inspectors working to a ir cycle is that they tend to retain nsibility for certain vehicles and thus ne very familiar with them. Since the inion service was set up (by the TRTA) in 1966 it has been growing at an average rate of about 100 vehicles a week.
Viewing the practicalities of the Ministry test, Mr. Goldrick asserted: "Seventy-five per cent are passing the test—we are looking for the 25 per cent that are failing. I think that most of the large companies are getting through fairly well. A point that interests me is that less than one per cent of vehicles are not accepted for testing for basic reasons such as cleanliness and wrong details on the application form.
"I understand that out of the first 30,000 vehicles put through only 0.05 per cent were not accepted because of dirty chassis, In fact, in one sample of a week of tests on 3,041 vehicles only five were not accepted by test stations. This in itself indicates that most people are being sensible and are at least making some preparation for the test, but I wonder how many are doing too much of this cleaning preparation. The Ministry phraseology gave one of the best descriptions I know when it said that a vehicle would be accepted for testing 'provided they did not have to go digging around components to see them, and that they were able to see any cracks or movement on the chassis and cross-members'."
Sample analysis
Mr. Goldrick remarked on the fact that a Ministry sample analysis of faults showed that braking faults formed the largest part of total defects for both vehicles and trailers. Mr. Wilson observed that FTA inspectors found steering faults most common on vehicles, followed by brake defects.
Following contact between the Association's inspectors, Ministry test stations and Association members the following tips on the test have been presented:
security reasons then this door will be regarded as fixed for the purpose of the test.
Air pressure build-up: The time permitted for the cut-out of the warning device is three minutes. In some cases the warning device has operated, but even then the brake standard has not been satisfactory when put on the roller tester. If the necessary standard is not achieved a further five minutes after the cut-out of the warning device, it seems likely that the vehicle will then he failed.
Shock absorbers: If shock absorber mountings or mounting brackets are loose this would be taken as a defect.
Brakes slack adjustors (Testers' Manual No. 591: Radial movement of up to ian. at a distance of 6in, from the centre of a brake wheel adjustor would appear to be permissible. The Association would like details, however, of any vehicle failed at lower figures.
Brake cables 1TM. 59): Approved cable adjustors must be used if it is desired to shorten brake cables. A knot in the cable, as well as being extremely undesirable, would mean certain failure.
Drivers' seats (T.M.18): Where an adjustor on a driving seat has become seized the Ministry has been treating the seat as fixed and not recording any defect.
Obligatory rear lamps position (T.M. 641: The importance of checking every item detailed in the Testers' Manual is shown by the fact that some vehicles have apparently been constructed with rear lights and reflectors just outside the legal limits.
Brakes—roller testers (T. M. 71-72): Some drivers have been asked at the test station if the vehicle's wheels lock when the brakes are applied. The reason for this ouestion is that severe tyre damage can be caused by the serrated surface of the tester if the wheels look.
Road wheels TM. 61: As the test is a completely visual one, wheel nuts will not be checked for tightness if hidden by a wheel embellisher.
Removable containers: Whenever possible vehicies should be sent in either as a flat-bed unit or skeletal vehicle with removable containers taken off.
Load-sensing devices: Members are advised to bring the fitment of load-sensing devices to the attention of the testing staff when vehicles so fitted go in for test.
All three FTA men agreed that a fair amount of difficulty had been found by operators in completion of the test application form. Question 16, it was thought, caused most of the trouble. This question asks the operator to specify one of three categories as describing the type of operation of the vehicle. The test certificate, when it is issued by the test station manager, states the type of operation on which the vehicle may be used —which is the information the applicant gives in answering Question 16. And following the issue of the test certificate in those terms, the vehicle cannot be authorized on any other type of operation.
The MoT's Goods Vehicle Tester's Manual came in for some criticism from the FTA party. Mr. Goldrick said it was felt that the operator associations should be drawn into discussions on alterations to the manual and Mr. Wilson agreed that there were certain points in it which left much to be desired.
But our discussion ended on a reassuring note. Mr. Wilson stressed how readily many companies had acted on the advice given by FTA inspectors, while Mr. Goldrick emphasized that the Ministry was not going about the test itself in an autocratic way. "It is accepting that there are faults which must be ironed out,he said.