News

A company appearing at its second public inquiry in just over five years has been formally warned that it must improve its maintenance regime. Keighley, West Yorks-based J Stell & Sons, which holds a licence for 11 vehicles and 11 trailers, had been called before North-Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney at a Leeds public inquiry.

Vehicle examiner David Howram said that since a previous public inquiry in July 2003 there had been two immediate and two delayed prohibitions in  the period until April 2006. After the first two prohibitions were imposed the maintenance contractor was changed. Following, the further two the trailer maintenance was transferred to a specialist trailer repairer.

In January this year one of the firm's vehicles was given an S-marked immediate prohibition for defective rear brakes. A subsequent maintenance investigation found the vehicle condition and maintenance arrangements to be generally satisfactory. For the company, Andrew Woolfall said drivers had been retrained in daily walk-round checks and a system of auditing these checks introduced. The Freight Transport Association had been engaged to carry out independent audits.

Howram agreed that the driver of the vehicle given the S-marked prohibition would not have spotted cracks in the brake disc, but said he should have been aware when it disintegrated with a loud bang. The fracture had extended into the hub and it had disintegrated under heavy braking. It would be  good practice when changing brake pads to change the discs if there was any deterioration. It could have been a lethal situation - when brake discs explode, cast iron pieces fly through the air.

The TC said the remedial measures taken would go a long way to resolving the problems. The TC said the fact that it was the company's second public inquiry did not mean he had to take draconian action.