I'm in need of some advice regarding an exhaust brake if anyone can help?

short story is, got a 7.5 tonne daf recovery truck, broke down one day due to the exhaust brake sticking on, fitter came out, smacked it with a lump hammer (as you do) which released it and told me to carry on, a defect report was handed in when i got back to the yard but rather than fix the problem the answer has been to disconnect the bloody thing!

now i'm unsure how this stands on a legallity side of things, if said vehicle was to get pulled by vosa how would they look at it? if it was involved in an accident what would the view be on it? basically i'm trying to cover my own arse here as it's always the drivers resposility etc.

thanks in advance for any help.

 

We always get the rough end Of the deal!

Just ring a VOSA testing station mate.

Pisses me off as companies know its the driver that gets it so they just think sod it.

 

From 1st of April exhaust brake must work for test and no you can't just remove it.check visa web site for the lattest 22 changes to the test

CheeRS stu

 

well taken from the test manual online:

Method of inspection,
Check aditional breaking devices for:
a. presence when known to be a mandatory fitment.
b. operation, condition completeness, and security.
c. security and condition of wiring.

Reasons for failure
1. An additional braking device:
a. missing when known to be a mandatory item.
b. inoperative, damaged, component missing, or insecure.
c. wiring insecure or damaged.

seems simple enough to me that it needs to be fixed and not ignored?

 

Refuse to drive it on the grounds of safety, are you an agency worker?

 

nope, i'm a mechanic for the company, i do vans and cars etc but when things go a bit quiet i often go out shifting cars between garages within our company or doing recovery work with the truck.

think that's what's pissing me off more than anything, there's plenty of people in the company who know the law etc but they would rather just have an easy ride insted of taking a few minutes to fix a problem.

 

the very same thing used to happen on my 7.5t lorry that i used to drive for a company. i used to keep a hammer and would often give the exhaust brake a tap if it got stuck on. the other option is not to use the exhaust brake atall, just leave it turned off. or if it bothers you that much just dont drive it and tell the company why. aslong as you fill in a defect report the blame falls onto them for not fixing the problem, i cant see you crashing the lorry because of that problem anyway. its a minor issue in my opinion.

 

as stu cos has said from april they have to work theres a lot of changes coming in then,
defo book the van of the road mate

 

Thing were missing is arnt recovery trucks mot exempt

cheeRS stu

 

no as it's used to transport goods as well as recovery work.

 

I dont know 100% about VOSA tested trucks, but MOD trucks that have exhaust brakes fitted must work. It is a auxilary brake after all.