Smiths strengthens in-house capabilities with Totalkare brake tester

Family-owned waste management and construction company Smiths, has upgraded its facilities in its Gloucester depot after purchasing a mobile brake tester from the workshop equipment experts, Totalkare.

A member of the CIWM, Smiths (Gloucester) Ltd manages a varied fleet of over 120 waste management and construction vehicles, offering skip hire, waste removal, construction, demolition services, transport, and plant hire. The established Gloucester depot is one of four and an existing Totalkare customer, having previously purchased a rail-based headlamp tester suitable for both HGVs and light commercial vehicles.

The most recent purchase has introduced a new, flexible way to test vehicles in-house. The Totalkare mobile brake tester has a maximum axle load of 16,000kg and is suitable for use on most surfaces including uneven gravel, asphalt, concrete, sand and dirt. Smiths elected to upgrade the brake tester to meet the requirements of its fleet with bi-directional rollers and extended ramps for longer vehicles.

The brake tester also includes a tablet interface to allow the driver to control and monitor test results from the driver’s seat, reducing the time and number of engineers required to perform the test.

Having both brake and headlamp testing capabilities in-house means Smiths can proactively mitigate against the two most common reasons for annual test failure.

Alan Ball, Senior Transport Manager, commented: “We identified the need for additional brake testing facilities in-house and a mobile brake tester was the ideal solution as it could be moved about the workshop and stored compactly when not in use, maximising our use of space and minimising downtime of our fleet due to testing.

George Georgiou, Area Sales Manager for Totalkare, added: “We’ve worked closely with Smiths to provide their ideal brake testing solution, catered to the needs of the fleet. After the purchase of a headlamp tester in 2021, Smiths decided to increase their in-house testing further and are now able to brake test a large quantity of vehicles anywhere on site without the additional cost of fuel and a third-party service.”

To find out about any of the products and service packages offered by Totalkare, explore our website.