The Automotive Blog

In May 2009 a Skelmersdale man was jailed for 11 months  for the theft of hundreds of litres of fuel from HGV’s at a Burscough haulage firm

Fortunately for the haulage firm  an employee had seen Mark Livesley and an accomplice running away from the scene of the crime and alerted his boss. Later that day police found barrels in a field which contained over 300 litres of fuel , syphoned from their lorries.

Livesley, 35, admitted theft of diesel valued at £930 from Grahams Haulage between June 16 and 17 last year.

As the problem of fuel theft increases, aide automotive has a number of porducts that ease the worry of concerned haulage firms.  There are a range of anti-syphoning devices such as TP Anti Syph and Van Syph visit our website for more details at aide automotive. Also another product, Diesel Key acts as an anti-theft device and anti syphoning device.

A spate of fuel thefts from cars and lorries has hit North Staffordshire over the past few days.

A quarry in Hurst Road, Biddulph where Two trucks and a Ford Transit van were targeted, Overnight on Saturday between 50 and 60 litres of diesel was stolen from an artic unit parked in Higherland, Newcastle.

The following night the fuel tank of a Fiat Punto in Newcastle had its fuel removed.

Dave Twist, North Staffordshire crime reduction manager, said: “We are warning motorists to be on their guard if they are offered cheap fuel for sale.
“People are obviously buying illegal fuel from the thieves and we are urging anyone offered the fuel to contact us.”
All offences of “bilking” – where offenders drive off from garage forecourts without paying for fuel – and other fuel thefts are investigated.

Mr Twist continued: “We are also concerned that such fuel may damage people’s cars due to the risk of fuel contamination. Fixing such problems could cost thousands.

Fuel theft is not stopping and van and cars users must look to protect fuel, aide automotive offer a couple of products to help protect against fuel theft. Diesel Key protects agaisnt siphoning and mis fuelling from cars and vans, where the Van Syph device stops fuel siphoning from vans.

Matthew Burke stated ” We are selling increasing calls from customers who have been hit by fuel theft, for a little cost of around 40 pounds you can protect your fuel from theives.

TyreSafe, the organisation for driving awareness of the dangers of driving on worn or defective tyres has introduced a new section to it’s website.  Recognising the importance of tyre pressure monitoring to truck companies they have dedicated a whole section to Truck Tyre Safety.

TyreSafe state that in 2007, defective or under-inflated tyres were a contributory factor in the death of 43 motorists in the UK, and played a part in a further 984 accidents. As for Trucks VOSA documented an MoT failure rate of 36.5 percent in 2007/8, with ‘condition of tyres’ ranking as the second most common failure defects . The VOSA statistics reveal that the percentage of failure defects attributed to tyres rose from 4.9 percent in 2006/7 to 5.6 percent in 2007/8 among HGV motor vehicles.

All of this stresses the importance of Tyre Pressure Monitoring through devices such as PressurePro which takes the guesswork out of determining the correct tyre pressure of a vehicle.  Monitoring Tyre Pressure is particularly important for all commercial vehicle operators.

Click here for aide automotive’s full product range

aide automotive’s Brake Light Check has featured in the Coach & Bus publication recently.

The BLC is an ideal easy way of checking brake lights are operational, simple to install and cost effective at £34.95 + VAT the BLC is ideal for any vehicle.

Read more by clicking here.

By purchasing BrakeCheck organisations will save money on brake testing, see a recent comment from  MSK Waste Management and Recycling

Delivery of BrakeCheck and printer were received the next day following our order.

We have a fleet of 30 HGV vehicles all of which were submitted for voluntary brake checks prior to annual mot at a cost of £61.00 + VAT per vehicle, totalling £1830.00 per annum

We aquired the BrakeCheck and printer from yourselfs for £505.00 + VAT giving MSK a average Annual saving for the 1st year of £1300.00.

Follow this link for more information on BrakeCheck or visit aideautomotive for our full product range

aide automotive have released a web site dedicated to the BrakeCheck decelerometer.
BrakeCheck is ideal for any commercial vehicle operator or repairer to complete the often requested inspection sheet brake test.
BrakeCheck has no connection to the vehicle, simply position the brake tester in the vehicle, arm for test, accelerate to 20KPH and activate a controlled emergency stop. Once the vehicle has come to rest the Peak & Average deceleration is recorded with the extra benefit of a left and right pull measurement. Brake Efficiency is usual word for Peak Deceleration.
VOSA recommend decelerometers for all commercial vehicle inspection sheet brake tests!

Richard Dixon of VOSA – Statement On Inspection Brake Testing

If an operator conducts a decelerometer test on the vehicle during inspections then as a Vehicle Examiner I would be quite happy that an efficiency check of some kind had been conducted.

As VOSA increases it’s road side checks of commercial vehicles. Operators cannot ignore ABS warnings if they want to avoid a PG9.

The ISOCheck Test Lead quickly confirms the correct information is being supplied from the unit to the trailer and from the trailer to the unit.

A double decker trailer with a defective EBS system is a major hazard; a defective system would vastly increase the chances of roll over or jack-knifes.

Find out more about the ISOCheck Test or more products from aide automotive.

Only £89 +VAT

Gloucestershire Council released a statement on their website highlighting Safe Driving while at work.

There is a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of all employees while at work. Employers and employees also have a duty to ensure that others are not put at risk by work related driving activities.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999 also apply and require that risk assessment are undertaken for activities with significant risks, and that effective management controls are put in place and implemented.

When considering driving safety there are also a number of road traffic laws to take into account, including the Road Traffic Act.

This document details how managers should manage occupational driving and details staff (driver) responsibilities. It explains the processes to be followed in evaluating the risks associated with driving at work and the control measures that need to be in place to mitigate those risks, which include driver familiarisation and training, driver documentation checking etc.

X-Driven is an ideal tool to prove who is a Safe Driver, simply sitting on your dashboard or attaching to your windscreen the X-Driven is powered by the cigarette lighter or can be fully wired into the vehicle cab. The X-Driven will record and store data for any sudden ‘shock’ movements such as harsh braking, vehicle impacts or excessive acceleration. The X-Driven can also be dismounted and carried to record damage at the rear of the vehicle or general accident information such as loading or delivering damage.

aide automotive ltd promote safe driving through all its own fleet and UK companies.

Reports are increasing of thefts of fuel from vehicles across the UK. Recently the RAC have reported a major increase in fuel theft from cars and light commercial vans.

“There has been a 500% increase in call-outs to fuel thefts from cars throughout Greater London, and nearly every other region of England has seen a rise of more than 50% since January”, the RAC said.

aide automotive ltd has been involved with the fuel theft problem for many years, Matthew Burke founder of aide automotive ltd states ” back in 2001 a coach operator advised me that fuel was stolen weekly. Not having any product to offer the customer I looked at what I could invent to counteract this theft. After discussions with a local engineer, we came up with an anti siphoning device to suit buses. We then found that this fuel theft problem was a common occurrence and hauliers were also finding fuel theft was affecting their business.  Since then aide automotive ltd have introduced a variety of anti siphon devices for trucks, buses, coaches, vans and now cars!

With many commercial anti syphon devices sold in the UK, aide automotive ltd have also seen a requirement for anti siphon devices for cars and vans. With this we are proud to announce a new device for diesel cars and vans. Our latest device will help prevent fuel theft from a diesel car or van and also stop the major problem of misfuelling.

Mis fuelling is reported to take place once every 3 and a half minutes, and with the high cost and inconvenience of a diesel engine being filled with petrol, this device will cut out expensive repair costs and vehicle downtime.

Car fuel theft will increase as long as fuel prices increase, so for a small investment of around £50 reduces, loss and downtime inconvenience.  Protecting a car’s or van’s fuel is a wise move.

The BBC recently reported on a fine of £6,650 under the Health and Safety at Work Act following the death of a farm worker in a quad bike accident in the Scottish Borders. Grant Shannon, 34, died on Kelloe Mains Farm near Duns on 14 June 2007.

The Health and Safety Executive said Mr Shannon’s death could “easily have been prevented” and stressed the need to properly maintain such equipment. 

There were a number of health and safety issues but the most serious identified was incorrect tyre pressure.

The company admitted charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act for “failure to provide and maintain plant (ATV) that was, so far as reasonably practicable, safe”.

Inspector Gillian McLean said: “Mr Shannon’s death could easily have been prevented.” If it had been checked that the vehicle was in “good mechanical condition”.

aide automotive supplies two tyre pressure monitors that for a small investment can save lives and avoid the cost of being fined or even imprisoned for breaches in Health and Safety. PressurePro and Air Alert take the guesswork of determining the correct tyre pressure of your vehicles

Visit aide automotive.com for full details of all our products.