'Wilful neglect' earns a suspension
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• A history of prohibitions going back to 1964 relating to vehicles operated by a Darlington C-licensee reflected "wilful neglect" said Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, the Northern LA, on Monday.
He had called Middlesbrough Laundry Ltd. to a Section 178 inquiry in Darlington after three immediate GV9s had been placed on its vehicles last October.
Mr. Hanlon said he was only able to take into account the prohibitions which had been issued since the renewal of the licence in November 1966 but he pointed out that some had also been issued during the three previous years.
"What steps did your company take at that time to make sure that it would not happen again?" he asked Mr. G. E. Sadler, managing director of Middlesbrough Laundry.
Mr. Sadler explained that he had only taken full control of the company last November but he now intended to reorganize considerably. This applied not only to the transport department, where he had introduced a preventive maintenance system, but to the business in general. Due to the recession, the only other laundry in the town had gone into liquidation and it required drastic action if they did not want to follow suit, he said.
Mr. Sadler told the LA that he had been very ill for two years and the firm had been let down by four fitters in a row. He had now obtained a good mechanic who every fortnight would inspect the eight vehicles which were now operative, and quarterly checks would be made by a local garage. The firm had two new vehicles on order and hoped to convert the whole fleet to diesels.
Suspending one vehicle for two months, the LA concluded: "This suspension is by way of being an extremely severe warning that they may have their licence taken away altogether if matters like this are allowed to arise again".