It has been another stressful few days with our vehicle problems persisting, we finally had Celtic Prides’ electronic problems sorted and were happy to present it for its annual test with no warning lights on and great brakes (mostly replaced) on Wednesday true to form for this season it failed with a fault on a component that we cannot test manually and can only be tested on “shaker plates” at a test station. There has been no sign or wear in the component visually or driving the vehicle but to save a long technical description we are without a bus again as parts will have to be shipped from UK and the job will take a few days so any potential buyers of Celtic Explorer will have to wait for a few weeks as I don’t see us having Pride back this season!
These new test standards are being imposed by the Road Safety Authority and it would be fair to say that we now have the most demanding test inEurope after having probably the most relaxed 5 years ago! The thing is we still have the same or worse road surfaces and components that would have 3 year life in UK or much of Europelast less than 12 months here! I fully endorse the RSA and their aims but feel that the standards they expect are ONLY ACHIEVABLE WITH A DECENT ROAD SURFACE! This situation on top of fuel costs is really making us question how long it is economical to operate in Ireland for a small business like ours.
As if this were not bad enough the RSA seem to operate by instilling a sense of fear into every test station by holding them entirely to book if there is an accident caused by a vehicle failure so I fully understand where the testers are coming from and don’t blame them for being overly zealous in highlighting faults on vehicles but surely there has to be some compromise somewhere!
As usual I’am writing this at Caherconnell and have just done our first day of a diversion due to roadworks in Corofin and I got to thinking of the life of suspension components as I traveled over a section of road that was so bad that I could barely hold the steering at 15 mph – is zero tolerance of wear acceptable in operating conditions like this? If any of you in the trade think not – don’t just sit there - complain to someone as you can be sure this situation can only get worse!
Books – I have gone away from Welsh for the moment and may save the latest for holidays, I bought a great read the other “In Full Flight” by Alan Ruddock which tells the story of Michael O’Leary of Ryanair fame – it really is a riveting read – highly recommended if, like me you are interested in the Ryanair phenomenon.
Music – Went to a gig on Thursday at Smyths in Limerickby J90 – a Cork based 5 piece and whilst it was not my usual fare I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying it. They produce what I could only describe as a massive sound which incorporates many influences from Rap, Hip hop, dub and you name it! They seem to have a good following and I can well see why – they are a huge talent and I think we will hear more of them, they have a website www.j-90.ie so check it out, I’am going to download a couple of tracks and will let you know next week!
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