Two-week fleet cut for series of maintenance problems
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MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS have led to the licence held by Broxburn-based J&M Kennie being cut from 12 vehicles and five trailers to nine vehicles and five trailers for two weeks by Scottish Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken.
The company, which is engaged in tipping and waste disposal work, appeared before the TC at an Edinburgh disciplinary inquiry.
Vehicle examiner Ross Wylie said that since July 2002 the company's vehicles had attracted eight immediate and six delayed prohibitions as well as two variation notices when vehicles were produced for prohibition clearance. Two of the prohibitions were marked as showing a significant maintenance failure.
He considered that the quality of the preventive maintenance inspections was not good enough.
Outlining the steps taken to impress upon drivers the importance of the daily walk round cheeks, driver defect reporting and scrutiny of wheelnuts, director John Kennie said they were engaging the Freight Transport Association to carry out a driver training programme.
He felt aggrieved about an S-marked delayed prohibition for a worn tyre, disputing if the level of tread wear was detectable without digital equipment.
Making the curtailment order, the TC said the nature of the defects and prohibitions, especially given the context in which these vehicles operated, were not the most serious she had had to consider. Kennie appeared to feel that there was not enough flexibility in the VOSA approach and this gave her a clue as to the company's problem.
Possibly the maintenance inspections did not sufficiently emphasise prevention, so tyres were reaching the tread limit before being replaced.
However, road safety demanded that the TC make the company and its drivers understand that licence undertakings must be observed.