IN-HOUSE MAINTENANCE
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Servicing the Banks Bros. Transport fleet of [Ricks as well as the tipping and low loader Lrailers is carried out in-house at the firm's West Cornforth depot. Six weekly safety inspections are done there and annual tests on trucks and trailers are carried out at the Volvo dealer's facility at Washington. Banks Bros. Transport has a wheel removal system in place at West Cornforth to help avoid wheel loss incidents and a calibrated torque wrench and instructions on its use is available.
Unsworth says the firm shares a good relationship with VOSA. He describes the local officers as "rigorous and thorough, but fair. They know our operation is well run." He reports 'no problems' with the Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) and is happy with the traffic light system.
"The economics of running a transport operation have changed significantly in the past two to three years. Costs have increased and margins are under more pressure than ever. The activities of speculators have driven fuel costs up even further and it appears to operators that the government neither knows nor cares about the transport industry. Although we're actively looking for outside work for both the workshop and the transport business, like most other operators, we're riding out the storm."