1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
Fuel tank fault puts Commando off road
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
CHRYSLER is to re-think maintenance schedules for its RG19 100-Series Commando models built for National Carriers following a magistrates court case last week.
The fault came to light after National Carriers was conVicted at a Northampton magistrates' court of using a vehicle that was a danger to other road users when a tank fell off and was crushed by the rear wheels of the vehicle.
National Carriers has now warned all its branches and engineers are modifying the vehicles involved.
The model involved is the 100-Series RG19 — a special model plated at 19 tons made specifically for National Carriers. The company has around 65 in service.
In the court the magistrates heard that the vehicle which lost its tank had only five days before passed its annual MoT test — but the court heard that the cracks would not be apparent on a visual inspection.
Checks around the country had revealed that in the South of England alone, 46 out of 65 vehicles had cracks in the brackets holding the fuel tank.
National Carriers' engineer for the North East, Phillip Biddlecomb told the court that the brackets had failed because, he thought, they were not strong enough and because a badly positioned bolt-hole in the chassis vibrated and started the fracture.
A Chrysler spokesman told CM this week that the company was aware of the problem and said that action to remedy the fault was being decided upon this week — and a recall is one course of action that the company will be looking at.
At the court National Carriers was fined £100 but the vehicle's driver at the time of the accident was given an absolute discharge because he could not have been expected to know of the fault.