OVLOV JAY:
Seems to happen with most main dealer inspections
I think a good number of us, including myself have been told that one 
We have a brake tester in our workshop , when they do an "inspection " 
, it never gets used tho . An inspection seems to take about 10 minuites in most cases .
Oh well
LIBERTY_GUY:
There is TOO much reliance on expecting mechanics to be responsible for your safetyâŠâŠ Do what truck drivers do in many Asian countries and cover your truck in religious imagery, preferably covering multiple faiths. That way youâll have more than one person covering your â â â â out there. Most importantly though, remember when you leave RDCâs you locate the shift manager and ask him to come outside and bless your truck.
One thing I have always found strange, is DVSA can can pull you offroad to a pull in, have a highly experienced vehicle inspector crawl underneath with a torch checking every joint and bolt on a truck, then potentially land a driver a fine for something they are genuinely unaware of, or that is often well beyond their skill matrix. Many companies you aint let anywhere near the truck mechanicals, with very good reason, yet you can still pick up a fine if things aint right on the truck?
DVSA suggest drivers spend a minimum of 15 minutes on safety checks prior to driving the vehicle, which they expect to see recorded as âother workâ on the tacho.
Most of the faults they find at roadside are things like worn/dangerous tyres, loose/missing wheel nuts, lights out etc, which a good driver should pick up on.
I find most mechanics have a big chip on their shoulder when it comes to drivers. As for main dealers, a certain Scania dealer in Dublin (cough McElvaney) used to basically ignore everything I said and when my truck was having battery problems they were downright rude. The Volvo dealer I now frequent is much better but even then it took me making a fuss on twitter and getting Volvo HQ involved to get a part changed on warranty. Ever since then theyâve been really nice to me!
GasGas:
LIBERTY_GUY:
There is TOO much reliance on expecting mechanics to be responsible for your safetyâŠOne thing I have always found strange, is DVSA can can pull you offroad to a pull in, have a highly experienced vehicle inspector crawl underneath with a torch checking every joint and bolt on a truck, then potentially land a driver a fine for something they are genuinely unaware of, or that is often well beyond their skill matrix. Many companies you aint let anywhere near the truck mechanicals, with very good reason, yet you can still pick up a fine if things aint right on the truck?
DVSA suggest drivers spend a minimum of 15 minutes on safety checks prior to driving the vehicle, which they expect to see recorded as âother workâ on the tacho.
Most of the faults they find at roadside are things like worn/dangerous tyres, loose/missing wheel nuts, lights out etc, which a good driver should pick up on.
I was at services on the M1 one sunny afternoon, when 50 unhappy passengers were kicked off their coach, after the men from the ministry took their coach off the road. Chatting to the driver he showed me the prohibition notice - slight oil drip onto the exhaust. Remember the engine is at the back of those things. Driver showed me inside the engine bay, absolutely nothing visible from there. Appears the examiner had to crawl right underneath and use a mirror and a torch to spot that particular one. Hardly fair on the driver thoughâŠ
I can understand why the driver felt hard done by on that occasion.
But, and itâs a big but, what if VOSA had let that one go, and then there had been an engine-bay fire on the coach while it was on the motorway with 50 passengers on?
LIBERTY_GUY:
GasGas:
LIBERTY_GUY:
There is TOO much reliance on expecting mechanics to be responsible for your safetyâŠOne thing I have always found strange, is DVSA can can pull you offroad to a pull in, have a highly experienced vehicle inspector crawl underneath with a torch checking every joint and bolt on a truck, then potentially land a driver a fine for something they are genuinely unaware of, or that is often well beyond their skill matrix. Many companies you aint let anywhere near the truck mechanicals, with very good reason, yet you can still pick up a fine if things aint right on the truck?
DVSA suggest drivers spend a minimum of 15 minutes on safety checks prior to driving the vehicle, which they expect to see recorded as âother workâ on the tacho.
Most of the faults they find at roadside are things like worn/dangerous tyres, loose/missing wheel nuts, lights out etc, which a good driver should pick up on.
I was at services on the M1 one sunny afternoon, when 50 unhappy passengers were kicked off their coach, after the men from the ministry took their coach off the road. Chatting to the driver he showed me the prohibition notice - slight oil drip onto the exhaust.
Did the examiner tell the driver he was at fault ? because if not, Iâm not sure what you mean by " hardly fair on the driver " If I had been the driver or indeed a passenger, I would have been thankful they had found the defect, as oil dripping onto a hot exhaust could have a nasty outcome.
Regards .John.
When I used to have to prepare buses for test at Purfleet we used to have to go â â â â about fuel or oil leaks, in case âThe Undertakerâ was on the bus lane when it went up. Not easy with a Gardner.
GasGas:
I can understand why the driver felt hard done by on that occasion.But, and itâs a big but, what if VOSA had let that one go, and then there had been an engine-bay fire on the coach while it was on the motorway with 50 passengers on?
I fully sympathise with the predicament, as I have a PSV license as well as my HGV, but those same passengers were likely to endure a four hour stay at those services, whilst a replacement coach was despatched. Most high mileage vehicles have slight oil drips, but the point I was making was that the driver wouldnât have picked up on that with walk round checks, nor could he be expected to. When I drove tippers one of our drivers had a driving with defective steering issued against him. It was only the intervention of the local Mercedes truck dealer doing an independent inspection stating the vehicle steering was within specification, that stopped him getting fined. 
The âhardly fair on the driverâ was due to the fact he had 50 very angry passengers to cope with John. They didnât think the coach should have been taken off the road with such haste and they should have been allowed to finish that days journey. Letâs face it, Iâd hate to be stuck at a MSA for up to four hours too. 
GasGas:
I can understand why the driver felt hard done by on that occasion.But, and itâs a big but, what if VOSA had let that one go, and then there had been an engine-bay fire on the coach while it was on the motorway with 50 passengers on?
Completely understandable and justifiable. But and its a big BUT, as long as the driver didnât get shafted for itâŠ
cav551:
in case âThe Undertakerâ was on the bus lane when it went up. Not easy with a Gardner.
What about Hulk Hogan? Heâd probably be upset too.
Thanks for the reply Liberty Guy, you just reminded me why I never chose to do coach driving, nor buses for that matter. Last bus from town full of drunks on a Saturday nightâŠno thanks !! 
Regards.John.
Are a few drips of oil really going to cause a fire? Iâve slopped oil over my car engine when filling before now ( 
) with no problems. Also my old van had a nasty rocker cover gasket leak where oil was â â â â â â â over the engine with no fire at all
When my dad worked on the railway we went a few times to the loco and some of the engine rooms were awash with oil, again not many fires.
Eh dont iudge the âmonkeyâ that repair your truck by my standards
If i send or check a truck/ trailer out it is right
I would not endanger my or your wife or child by letting some piece of crap out on the road.
And anybody who does is a scum bag and should pay the price.And whats the price of a child?
Own Account Driver:
OVLOV JAY:
Seems to happen with most main dealer inspectionsSurprising how many main dealers donât have a roller brake tester and arenât even doing a decelorometer test and printout either at least with the latter you know the vehicle is coming to a stop with a safe efficiency - which is what matters at the end of the day - even if you arenât going to be able to detect one wheelâs a bit inefficient.
So many times though I look at inspection sheets for trucks that have either been with big blue chip companies or hire fleets and in the section for writing in brake test results it just has âskid testâ and a tick scrawled across it diagonally. Which I would guees, with a unit, means between the yard and the workshop, theyâve just slammed the brakes on, with no trailer coupled, on some loose gravel. Ridiculous and the whole charade just relies on new trucks giving little trouble.
SĂșprising how many â â â â â â â â âdriversâ who would not know how a hgv braking system worked if it jumped up and bit them all of a sudden turn into bloody experts
Till you know what your talking about keep your gob shut!
bazza123:
Are a few drips of oil really going to cause a fire? Iâve slopped oil over my car engine when filling before now (When my dad worked on the railway we went a few times to the loco and some of the engine rooms were awash with oil, again not many fires.
Cause of this is not yet known but if this is one of Hams from Flimwell then itâs quite possible this motor is dripping oil!
Bking:
Own Account Driver:
OVLOV JAY:
Seems to happen with most main dealer inspectionsSurprising how many main dealers donât have a roller brake tester and arenât even doing a decelorometer test and printout either at least with the latter you know the vehicle is coming to a stop with a safe efficiency - which is what matters at the end of the day - even if you arenât going to be able to detect one wheelâs a bit inefficient.
So many times though I look at inspection sheets for trucks that have either been with big blue chip companies or hire fleets and in the section for writing in brake test results it just has âskid testâ and a tick scrawled across it diagonally. Which I would guees, with a unit, means between the yard and the workshop, theyâve just slammed the brakes on, with no trailer coupled, on some loose gravel. Ridiculous and the whole charade just relies on new trucks giving little trouble.
SĂșprising how many [zb] âdriversâ who would not know how a hgv braking system worked if it jumped up and bit them all of a sudden turn into bloody experts
Till you know what your talking about keep your gob shut!
Ah, HGV braking systems, any news on that picture of a trailer control valve yet?
Youâve only been an apprentice five minutes and it sounds like youâve already slipped into the lazy habit of not doing proper roller brake tests then?
What would I have to do to qualify as an expert, in your opinion, my adorably profane young friend?
bazza123:
Are a few drips of oil really going to cause a fire? Iâve slopped oil over my car engine when filling before now (When my dad worked on the railway we went a few times to the loco and some of the engine rooms were awash with oil, again not many fires.
For example, an oil drip, from say a rocker cover, thatâs accumlated on the exhaust manifold whilst a vehicle is parked up will just produce some smoke whilst it burns off. Iâve had V8 Land Rovers where it wouldnât matter how much gasket seal you used the rocker covers would always leak oil on to the exhaust down pipes and if you left it parked up for a week youâd get smoke billowing from under the bonnet whilst it burnt off.
The fires usually come from a pipe carrying hot engine/transmission/power steering oil letting go and getting on something else very hot or near a spark. The aerosol nature of the oil in those circumstances make it more likely to ignite.
It probably isnât fair to make a VOSA examiner have a judgement call on what oil leak on to an exhaust would/wouldnât be a severe fire risk.
Own Account Driver:
It probably isnât fair to make a VOSA examiner have a judgement call on what oil leak on to an exhaust would/wouldnât be a severe fire risk.
And combined with the above, oil leaks only ever get worse, never better!
Although there will / must be circumstances where VOSA men are allowed discretion, the criteria used will be the same as the circumstances under which MOT testers make judgement calls i.e.
âWould you be happy for a close relative to be using a vehicle in this conditionâ
I couldnât call the result without actually seeing it myself, and another manâs call might differ even so.
Modern diesel engines with adblue have to regenerate the dpf which gets crazy hot. If the oil was leaking close to the dpf then it could definitely be a fire hazard!