THE DEFINITIVE TRUCKING SITE

May 2007

This is almost unbelievable as it shows a total disregard for even the most basic form of maintenance. Anyone can see that this disc is badly damaged and needs to be replaced. The disc is seriously scored from the pads being worn out with the result that all you are getting here is metal to metal which equals NO BRAKES!

The linings are not released against the drum which results in the brakes now binding and overheating and finally becoming glazed and totally useless.

This disc has 'high spots' which will give a shudder when the brake pedal is applied. A trained driver will feel the shudder and bring the fault to the attention of the workshops. Obviously, this driver is not trained and one wonders whether the operator knows what a workshop is!

In March this year, the FleetWatch Brake & Tyre watch team comprised of experts from our partners Wabco, Alfa International, CI Automotive and Bridgestone once again took to the road - this time working with traffic officials from Tshwane using the Centurion Test Centre as our inspection and test base. While we were once again shocked at the state of some of the vehicles we hauled off the roads, in general they were not as bad as those we inspected in the City Deep and Middelburg areas - the venues for our previous two test days. However, out of 61 trucks and buses inspected - 41 of which were taken over the static brake rolling tests - 17 were served with Discontinuation of Service notices and in our opinion, this is totally unsatisfactory. Once again, the industry was shown up in a bad light by the miscreants.

As per our previous exercises, the project started with a day's training of the traffic officials whereby the delegates from Tshwane were given presentations by Wabco on air brakes; by Alfa International on brake discs, pads and drums; by CI International on lighting and by Bridgestone on tyres. This training included a practical inspection of a roadworthy rig where the officers were taken into the pit and shown the underside of a trailer and truck tractor highlighting how things should be. The following day, the team converged at Centurion and with the traffic officials now 'empowered' with a new level of knowledge following their training, the tests began in earnest.

With two static rolling road brake testers available, we were able to put a lot more vehicles over these than we did on our two previous test days. However, at the prolific rate the enthusiastic traffic officers were hauling them in, visual inspections were also done. In all, 61 vehicles were taken off the roads for testing and of these, 41 went over the rolling road test beds and the balance were visually inspected. Out of all of these, 17 were taken off the roads.

On this and the following pages, we highlight once again some of the faults found. While there were certainly examples of vehicles operated by owners who don't give two hoots about safety, we concluded that with a bit more attention paid by operators to general maintenance and daily checks, a lot of the faults can be avoided.

Enoch Silcock, technical director of Wabco Automotive SA, sums it up by saying that "in general, it appears there are operators who pay attention to the maintenance of their trucks as we found some good examples of excellent brake maintenance. However, there are others who are missing the basics on really simple things and with a bit more care, could improve the state of their vehicles substantially."

Sean Annandale, brand manager, airbrakes and industrial for CI Automotive, concurs with Silcock by saying that the main concerns stem around maintenance - or more accurately, the lack of maintenance - as well as daily checks. Problems noted more than once were: Suzy or coupling problems; brake adjustment issues; general maintenance problems as seen by exposed wiring, kinked pipes as well as oil and water in the reservoirs (very common). Also common were different boosters and slack adjuster lever lengths on either side of the same axle which causes braking imbalances. All this, according to Silcock, highlights a lack of education and training at the technician and workshop levels.

FleetWatch once again urges all operators to take note of the faults highlighted on the following pages. If all operators can learn and respond as has MAN Truck & Bus and its client Autopax, which operates the City-to City coach fleet (see story elsewhere), it will go a long way to improving standards out there. Apart from exposing faults, we are also trying to highlight lessons for all to learn from. It is up to you whether or not you take note of the lessons.

My thanks go to our enthusiastic and knowledgeable partners as well as our good friend Wolfgang Lehmann for his comments on the general faults seen in these photographs as well as to Paul Williams, national marketing manager for Alfa International and his team for their input.
 

The linings are not in contact with the drum. Once again, no brakes!

With the tyre catching on the chassis beam, this is a fire in the making.

The Rocker/Equaliser is hitting on the underside of the chassis. Note the missing bracing between the hangar brackets.

The hanger bracket welding has broken off completely. The axle/spring will move the bracket forward and backward with subsequent bad tyre wear.

This spring is over-bending on a trailer laden with wet sand. The centre of the spring is hitting the underside of the chassis.

This rubber grommet connection from the load sensing valve arm is hanging in mid-air. The load sensing valve is not operating.

Plastic and string. This has got to be the best protection against dust in the steering mechanism! Show me the cab and I tell you all about the company. The owner probably drives a big 4x4 in perfect condition serviced every 15 000 kms.

It It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the inner spring eye bush is badly worn thus causing serious damage/wear to the spring retainer bolt - so why can't the mechanic see it and fix it? This is a really bad one. The drum inner surface is rusted due to there being no brake shoe and lining. Eeish! The brakes she failed! Why? Because there are none! So then, brakes just do not fail. They fail when there are no brakes. It's simple logic that seems to escape many operators.   Isn't this neat? It's obviously much easier using rolled-up plastic shopping bags or a plastic raincoat than to fit a new fuel cap.   A disaster in the making: No brake shoes, no linings and the axle clamp plate weld is broken as well.		This trailer is a joke and runs around in South Africa! No number plate lights; rear lights damaged and too low (min 350mm from the ground); no under-run bumper; no mud flaps. And what we see here is only the rear section! This Botswana trailer was towed by a truck tractor with an "NW" number plate. Therefore, I think the owner lives in South Africa. Oh yes, and where is the high intensity reflective tape on the side of the trailer? I hope this "JUDGE" never gets a job in a court of justice.
	There's more grease and oil on this spring and connection bar than there is in this badly leaking gearbox.   If the air pipe leaks, "kink it".   All nuts were loose - allowing the spring to shift	Another "one-eyed" truck - a total reject but the owner doesn't care. (It didn't happen on the way to the testing ground).   This is what you call "KINKY" electrical wiring.   The pushrod is not straight into the clevis. Note too that the slack adjuster/pushrod connection is connected with a piece of round bar. No money for bolts perhaps?