Firestone tyre controversy hots up in the States.
The recall by Bridgestone of 6.5 million of the Firestone 15-inch Wilderness, ATX and ATX II tyres amidst safety concerns over their use on Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle, has been further shrouded by revelations that the Ford Motor Company rejected important design changes to the car when it went into production a decade ago.

Tests carried out by engineers on the prototype Explorer in the late 1980s reportedly found the vehicle prone to rolling over. However, the company allegedly declined to redesign the car deciding instead to initiate much smaller changes, including a reduction in tyre pressure. Indeed, Explorer owners were advised to inflate their tyres to 25lb per square inch on the premise that softer tyres would improve the vehicle stability by making it less responsive to the sudden steering manoeuvres that might cause it to overturn.

Somewhat perversely, such reductions in tyre pressure may have caused tyres to overheat, leading to the numerous incidents of peeling treads and high-speed blow-outs.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating 62 deaths and more than 100 injuries potentially linked to failures of Firestone tyres.

Meanwhile, Firestone chief executive Masatoshi Ono has allegedly been ordered to testify in court on 15 September in the case of a couple killed in a May 1999 car accident when their Ford Explorer, fitted with Firestone ATX tyres, overturned. A Bridgestone spokesman however, said the company was not aware of any such order.

Meanwhile, Toyota has given its support to Firestone over any possible courtroom action, saying that it had no plans to change its business with Bridgestone, Firestone's Tokyo-based parent. Firestone has now begun airlifting replacement tyres from Japan to America's west coast. The Explorer is one of the most popular sport utility model's ever made, with more than 3.5 million of the vehicles having been sold in America.

Abandoned vehicle chaos.
The RAC Foundation is warning of an "environmental and safety disaster" as thousands of motorists illegally dump cars on and off the roads of Britain.

The problem has been caused, according to the Foundation, by the dramatic drop in the prices of used cars and the fact that the price of scrap metal has fallen to an all time low - from £40 to £2 a tonne. The high cost of fuel also puts off drivers from driving to a scrapyard when they break down while tougher MOT standards mean that failures are often too expensive to repair.

"Some of our roads now have the appearance of Steptoe's back yard," says RAC Foundation executive director Edmund King. "The combination of falling values for used cars and scrap metal means that many motorists don't dispose of their vehicles properly. We are asking motorists to think twice before dumping their motors as it causes safety and environmental hazards. It also costs the council tax payer as local authorities have to pay thousands of pounds a year to remove the cars."

Research has revealed Birmingham to be the UK's dump capital, 10,000 cars being dumped in the city last year at an estimated cost of £200,000 to the city's tax payers. Glasgow is in second place with 2,000 abandoned cars.

"We would like to see local authorities given more powers so that they can work with the DETR and police to take action," continues King. "There is also a role for the legal authorities to take tougher action against individuals who fail to notify change of ownership details to DVLA."

Triple deal from Boniface.
Thetford-based Boniface Engineering has recently supplied new vehicles to three operators. Manchetts Recovery purchased two vehicles, a new Scania 4 Series R Cab, fitted with a tri axle and Boniface Recoverer and Interstater G Boom and a DAF XF 95 Space Cab 430 installed with an Interstater 3G and Sidewinder.

Meanwhile, Southbank Recovery of London has taken delivery of a new Mercedes 814D factory crew cab chassis fitted with the Boniface Champion 3.5 transporter body. This slidebed is of steel fabrication with a second vehicle lift spec frame.

The bed length is 5,500mm with ramped end and tail rollers for easy loading of vehicles with low spoilers. A hydraulic winch is fitted as standard as is the beacon flyer mounted behind the cab, installed with a light bar and working lamps. The Boniface Champion 3.5 can also be supplied in aluminium for enhanced payloads.

Finally, long-time Boniface customer Kevin McFadden of Leighton Buzzard-based Three Counties Recovery has purchased two Boniface Interstators from the Double Sure 50 used vehicle department.

Lighting up with Woodway.
Coventry-based lighting specialists Woodway Engineering has launched two new products. The Edge Pod lighting system provides an integrated, high quality lighting system. Using lighting components from the Edge 9000 light bar and a heavy-duty strobe power supply, the new system comes with a five-year warranty.

The Edge Ultra light bar, which is wider in stance but still classic Edge profile, features modular architecture with the wider stance also providing enhanced 'fend off' light output.

Meanwhile, the new Opti-Link system - designed to interface directly with the new Edge light bar - provides an enhanced control interface between the driver and the vehicle's visual and audible warning equipment. The switch panel mounts in a similar manner to a car phone - ideal for limited dash space. High quality legends may be printed to customer requirements.

Other new products from Woodway include high intensity LED warning lamps in amber, blue, green and red, strobe power supplies, surface mounting remote strobe light heads, and scene lighting lamps.
Woodway Engineering
Tel: 024 7684 1750
Fax: 024 7662 1796
Web site:www.woodwayengineering.co.uk

Me and my truck.
Built in 1954 as a 6x6 chassis cab, Milly was sold to the army and first used as a general cargo truck with the army registration number 36BM73. Spending most of her life in storage compounds, she had done very few miles when she was purchased by London Transport in October 1966, along with a second army 4x6 Militant (36BM12). Both vehicles were sent to Boughtons of Amersham to be bodied as master breakdown tenders. The cranes fitted were full power slewing models PLS/A/10 rated at a 10 tons lift when fully extended.

Milly and her sister spent the next fourteen years working for London Transport. Based at Camberwell Garage (her sister at Cricklewood). Neither were used a great deal because of their lack of speed. In September 1980 she was withdrawn from service due to a fractured chassis. In May 1981 she was sold to a collector in Greenwich, being joined at the same collector by her sister in April 1983.

Late in 1983, Milly was purchased by the National Rescue Group to operate from their newly opened Brooklands depot at Weybridge. After a coat of paint she was put straight to work on the notorious A3 Kingston by-pass and the soon-to-become-notorious, just-opened M25, dealing with some of the worst accidents those roads have ever seen. Sadly, her speed let her down again and in 1989 her replacement, a huge DAF known as the Brooklands Belle arrived.

Andy Lambert, the then managing director of NRG and now owner of Milly, lent her to the Brooklands Museum where she has stayed ever since, apart from a four month spell at Southend airport dismantling the Viscount Aircraft - Stephen Piercey.

Her duties at the museum are varied and consist of, amongst other things, working on the museum's collection of aircraft, winching out huge pieces of concrete left over from the war, carrying bombs around the site and tree surgery.

Power is provided by an AEC A223 11.3 litre, six cylinder diesel engine revving to 1,900rpm with a maximum bhp of 160. The gearbox has ten forward speeds and two reverse, the steering being (and needing) power-assisting and the underbody fore or aft winch is conservatively rated at 30 tonnes. Four hydraulic stiff legs hold the chassis steady for craning which is through 360 degrees.

During 1992, Milly's sister also returned to work with Essex bus company, Blue Triangle. In the following year, Milly was tidied up and re-painted by National Rescue.

Weighing up the costs of "O" licensing.
Over the past few years the pressure for recovery operators to make themselves more professional has undoubtedly increased. Failure to meet the necessary standards could mean losing lucrative work whether it be with the motoring clubs or on police contracts. The pressure applies equally to large and small operators.

Vehicle recovery is currently exempt from requiring an operator's licence although a review of exemptions is currently being carried out by the department of environment, transport and the regions.

The criteria for gaining such a licence is extremely stringent as Barry Prior, head of the transport law department at solicitors Wedlake Saint, explains. "There are two types of operator licence available, depending on whether those applying want to take business abroad or not. For those that do there is the Standard International licence whilst for those that want to operate solely in the UK, there is the Standard National."

The financial wherewithal of the operator applying is a crucial factor in the traffic commissioner's final decision over whether a licence can be granted. Operators wanting to trade overseas must have available £6,500 for their first vehicle licence and £3,500 for every subsequent vehicle (the respective figures for the UK licence being £5,200 and £2,800). "Whether it be through a current balance sheet or an unused overdraft facility, operators have to prove to the traffic commissioners that they can adequately meet these finances," continues Prior.

These financial demands are just the tip of the iceberg however. Other requirements for operators include the implementation of a six-weekly, vehicle preventative maintenance regime, the presence of a transport manager with a certificate of professional competence and recognition of environmental concerns with regard to the company's premises.

An operator applying for a licence has to advertise the fact in the local press - to allow for objections to be raised by local residents. It is notable however that bus and coach operators applying for PSV ÔOÕ licence are exempt from these premises requirements and it would be reasonable for recovery operators to seek the same exemption.

Then there is the question of good repute. "Until recently, persuading the commissioners of good repute, which is needed by standard licence applicants only, had proved difficult for sole traders," says Prior. "Previously, any sole trader with just one road traffic offence could lose their good repute. This has now been changed to more than one serious offence.

" But how can operators justify going through such a procedure? In other words what real benefits would licensing bring to the recovery industry? One operator, who wished to remain anonymous, said that licencing would undoubtedly benefit and bring regulation to the recovery industry, particularly with regard to stricter enforcement by managers of driver hours, but that ultimately its success or otherwise depended on what exemptions operators could obtain.

Meanwhile, David Flockhart of Middlesex-based Phoenix Motors believes that the control which licensing would bring with regard to the condition of recovery vehicles and improved, more frequent inspections has long been needed in the industry. However, he does hold reservations about how stricter control of driver hours would be implemented.

All of these concerns are academic however, given the current lack of attention to the issue, a point which Inspector John Bennett of Cheshire police motorway management, readily accepts. "The Survive Report on hard shoulder and roadside safety produced earlier this year, tackled several issues such as common training standards, which could be included under the title of operator licencing," he says.

"However, because the introduction of any such licensing would require legislation, any formal agreement on this matter is a long way off. You only have to look at the magenta light scenario to see how long these things take to sort out"

How operators should move forward on this issue is difficult to judge. As Bennett points out, the next meeting of the working group responsible for the Survive Report is on 2 November, but operator licencing is likely to be low on its agenda.

"O" licensing would undoubtedly bring an image boost to the industry, but operators supporting the move need to be sure that the benefits outweight the costs of such a regime.