TROUBLE AT THE TOP
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Defective brakes...insecure road wheels and suspension components...defective chassis components.. .a "horrifying" maintenance record, to be sure. But not, as you might assume, the record of some backstreet cowboy outfit with a fleet of fourth-hand vehicles. It was Pandora whose vehicles earned that reprimand this week from North Western and North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Mark Hinchliffe (see page 4). TDG has just had 10 vehicles suspended for maintenance problems too. When blue-chip companies like these run into problems you have to start wondering what's going on. Major players generally have very slick, very well organised systems in place when it comes to things like marketing and invoicing for their services, so why don't they have similarly slick and well organised systems for ensuring proper maintenance routines? The suggestion, in Pandora's case, that the system had fallen down because of "four fools" who were not carrying out checks thoroughly enough goes only part way towards explaining the problem. What was the person supervising the "four fools" doing during their foolishness? And how can the problems have gone on for five years without being noticed or addressed internally? Companies of this calibre must be seen to apply the very highest standards of fleet operation at every level, particularly on something as safety-critical as maintenance. Road haulage has a bad enough reputation without flagship firms being pulled up for unroadworthy vehicles. The cuts made to both operators' licences, while harsh, serve as a reminder to hauliers throughout the industry that poor maintenance simply isn't acceptable, whatever the excuse.