The TC would probably say something along the lines of “If it’s too much of a faff for you to ensure your vehicle is safe to be on the road, maybe you should be in another line of business?”
I know most people here probably won’t have sat through a TC’s Public Inquiry, but I can sum it up easily as: they aren’t interested in dog-ate-my-homework approaches of any kind.
A former client of mine thought he could get away with an impressive list of none-compliance by playing on his “I’ve got cancer” approach. The response was “If you were too ill to run the company properly you should have put someone else in that role in place of yourself” TBH I was very sceptical about the truth of his illness, when I met him he looked like a bare-knuckle boxer in his prime, he looked just the same four years later and not many people would have been likely to square-up to him.
That was all down to them pricks VOSA , F/A to do with the operator,
All they could find when they inspected his vehicles was a broken taco seal which they GV9 it ffs
The driver had only just past his test? And was taught Gas to Go Brakes to Stop, So what happens when you go over the brow of a hill fully loaded 32ton it top gear, (Its good night Irene ) You or know one else will stop it, that what burnt the brakes out, because it stopped ok at the juction turning into that road, Who the ■■■■ would teach someone NOT to use Gears to slow a loaded vehicle? Yes you have got it F-----g idiots at VOSA. The Boss and the Fitter were USED a Scape Goats FACT They done a heat check on the brakes 4 hours after the crash, The W-----s what good was that F/A, and suprise suprise the brakes were Burnt Out ? how bright would you have to be to work that one out?
The Driving Test today is NOT FIT for Purpose as any C–t could pass it, thats where the problem is a ( Licence ) dose NOT prove you are SAFE to drive a commercial vehicle, But DVSA cannot be wrong can they? Very seldom are the F-----g Right though, Starman fits in well with the C----s.
I didn’t say the trailer had to be loaded to 100% of its capacity, my point was that my trucks and trailers aren’t running around laden all the time. So I brake test them in situations where they are likely to be running - completely laden, part laden and unladen.
If you actually run a business and took a hands on approach to maintenance I think you’d find this was actually a good method of making sure your braking systems were safe and compliant at all times.
As part of the police investigation, police worked extensively with Scania and the DSVA to take apart the tipper and test each of its components.
Detective constable Wayne Sumsion, who was present for this, told CM: “Over five days, the vehicle was taken apart piece by piece and then reconstructed. It was discovered that two of the brakes didn’t work at all, one had very little in it and the rest were maladjusted. It was a picture of an accident waiting to happen.”
Look at the photos here and tell me those are components on a well maintained truck.
And Yes you believe all what they say as the truth then ffs. They make it up as they go along just like the Police do, Have you not had dealings with them ? Unfortunately you cannot win? WHY because the are part of the Government so if you win the case you cannot claim against the C===s Fact, But in the meantime its cost you £££££££ So VOSA /DVSA are proven WRONG , But NO claim against them, Ref that Scania from what i saw the Faults they found did NOT cause the problem in the first place, Take it you have Never driven a vehicle when the Brakes have let go then ? I HAVE and there is F–k All you can do, So coming over the top in high gear he had NO chance to Slow it down or change down, The brakes would have been warm / hot from working throughout the day, so therefore less than a third down that hill grossing 32 ton , NO BRAKES ? why because he has BURNT them out,
Ref the time it happened to me was going down into Sudbury , i had stopped at the cafe on the right before Sudbury for dinner , left after an hour on the way down a car pulled out from the right turning, went for the brakes needed a bit more and that’s when they let go, Thank F–k the car driver put there foot down and got out the way, ( So cool brakes and Not in top gear at the time ) and if you know Sudbury you will know how far the vehicle traveled Quarter of a mile maybe ?? And that was only Brake Fade because from then on it was not a problem, But then again it was a F88 pulling a tandem axle bulker so not the best at stopping, ( Did you know that’s why they came up with Tri axle Trailers the only way to stop a VOLVO lol )
Its not a case of being a Fan md1987, Its a case of having dealings with them ? then you see there true colours lol, i have been around Commercial Vehicles ALL my life , and operated them from 1972 so do know a little bit about them lol Plus have taken many vehicles that have not been mine for test, So have seen plenty of there Bull ■■■■ that they make up as they go along, Here is two examples,
Trailer Failed brake bind , took it home jacked it up NO BIND went back within 30 mins, nothing we can do about it now? will have to rebook retest, another one My 3 year old DAF advise O/S track rod worn ? Sold in on some 10 years later never did change any steering joints on it, Tyres badley worn what the F–k is that all about? take it you can get Good worn lol, So now maybe you can see why i would never trust a word DVSA said, I have many more stories i could tell you but i am not sure i have enough time left lol
All the very Best to you.
Well I aint left it as such, I preferred to stick it out…despite the decline.
But they probably come back eventually because they are a bit like me, in respect of …
Despite all the aggravation, b/s and generally being (attempted to be) treated like a child, I refuse to let the ■■■■ s who do it, who generally know f/all about the job (on planner/managerial level btw…not DVSA) drive me out of a job I like and that I have completely sussed on the whole, and have done for years .
I can remember some of us raising the issue of over reliance on brakes in modern or not so modern driver training methods.
Also the potentially catastrophic finite nature of them.
The industry made a rod for its own back in that regard.
I can remember telling a driver who was possibly even older than me that there is redundancy designed in the ‘actuation’ system of the brakes.
But there is still only one set of linings when they are cooked they are gone.
It’s also possible that actuation components could then also fail by trying to actuate brake friction components that have overheated outside of their operational design limits.
The conclusion seems to be the perfect storm of drivers told to maximise the use of brakes to slow to minimise the use of engine braking.In a typical but potentially lethal example of false economy.Added to buy also not factoring that false economy into the resulting massively increased brake maintenance regime.
Because ultimately operators actually know it’s a false economy.
So all of us drivers practicing the gears to slow brakes to stop method have been proven correct.
To be fair the brakes to slow gears to go mantra didn’t come from VOSA.It was the industry itself thinking that engine braking wears out transmission and drive line components and knackering/cooking the brakes is cheaper.
Which is exactly the argument I had with my HGV instructors when I did my tests in the 1980’s.
I actually got a complement from my class 1 examiner at least at the end of the test for my use of gears having ignored the BTSGTG instruction.
Which had been honed at that point after 5 years as a council driver driving a constant diet of Leyland WF, Clydesdale and gritters with Foden and Fuller gearboxes and a few before that on some Spicer and Fuller equipped fire trucks.
Realistically it’s difficult to see how they can get a decent reading and idea of brake condition by just locking up the wheels of an unladen/unclamped trailer on the rollers.
Going back to loaded and tapley meter and chalk gun on the move would be preferable all round.
All of which is negated by the BTSGTG method of driving which obviously wrecks any idea of life expectancy and durability of brake components.
Although not sure how auto transmissions deal with same but just standing near any roundabout or junction suggests little if any engine braking is happening regardless.
