The formal warning comes after repeated wheel loss incidents despite fine MOT and prohibition rates
Wigton-based Reays Coaches received a formal warning following three wheel loss incidents in two years, in what was described as ‘an extraordinary case’ by Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) Miles Dorrington because of the systems the company had in place.
The company, of Syke Park, Wigton, with a 90-vehicle international licence, had been called before the DTC at a Golborne Public Inquiry.
The DTC said that in his nine years in the position he had never come across such a case. The company seemed to have all the systems in place yet on three occasions in two years wheels came off. It seemed to be somewhat odd – the MoT and prohibition rates were fine.
For the company, James Backhouse said that the first incident in 2015 seemed explainable by a deflated tyre. The other two wheel losses within a short time of one another last year were not as explainable. The company had excellent maintenance facilities and it had systems for wheel security, which seemed satisfactory at the time.
From the company’s point of view it had been a nightmare. It had had to start from the ground up and had tried to plug every loophole. The same fitter was no longer responsible for every stage of wheel replacement and there was now an additional fifth stage in wheel security checks.
Wheel trims had been removed and random wheel torque checks were carried out. What had occurred had made the company refocus on the quality of drivers’ walk-round checks. The audit system of walk-round checks had been upgraded, with 40 vehicles being audited each day. The drivers were briefed regularly about wheel security.
Vehicle Examiner Andrew Sefton said that he did not accept that the first wheel loss was due to a deflated tyre. In all three cases it was the nearside near wheel that became detached. Because that wheel was on the drive axle and the rotation of the wheelnuts it was that wheel that would come off quickly.
The company did not have the system in place now it had when the first wheel loss occurred. However those systems would have been deemed satisfactory if there had been no wheel loss. It now had very comprehensive systems that were constantly evolving. Some vehicles had had an inner steel wheel and an outer alloy wheel which he did not thing was a good idea and that had been addressed.
Managing Director Christopher Reay said that they were absolutely paranoid about wheel security. The wheel studs and nuts were replaced on any second hand vehicle acquired to ensure they had not been stretched. They had stopped parking vehicles away from base in between school runs just in case there had been tampering.
The DTC said that the company now had a system that was beyond the gold standard on wheels. It was one of the most extraordinary cases he had seen. Normally when there was wheel loss, maintenance was not up to standard. He could not see realistically what more could have been done to avoid the wheel losses at the time they occurred.
