– It couldn’t be right. The trailer is almost new. It has traveled a maximum of 200 miles, says Øystein Finsrud, who is the general manager and owner of Vegarheim crushing plant and contractor. At the end of January, his barely two-year-old trailer was due for an EU inspection at Scania in Arendal. The brakes were checked on a rolling tester. Below you can see how this tool works. The result was that the trailer did not have its brakes approved. The requirement for approval is a so-called Zt value of 0.45. The Zt value is a measurement unit for braking performance. The Zt therefore had to be at least 0.45, but on the roller tester Finsrud’s hanger got a result of 0.37. For Finsrud, this was incomprehensible. His opinion was that the trailer had good brakes. He therefore contacted Helge Andersen, who carries out brake tests on the road. The test on the road showed that the brakes were more than good enough – with a Zt of 0.58. – It braked so hard that I almost went into the windscreen. I thought; “damn you”. Every year there is some nonsense with these roll samples. I bought a new trailer to get rid of that, says Finsrud. Known problem Ever since the 1990s, the Swedish Road Administration has received complaints about the rolling tests. Several people have thought that you get different results from time to time, and that the results can be wrong. This could have two types of consequences. Vehicles with too bad brakes could be approved. Vehicles with good brakes could be rejected. This was something that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration itself has previously acknowledged. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration believes, however, that these are issues that have been worked on for a long time, and that the problems that previously existed have now been resolved. They have stuck to this, even though news has mentioned this several times in recent months. The Minister of Transport has received questions twice in recent months about the rolling tests. First from the FRP and Bård Hoksrud, who has been critical for several years. So from Geir Jørgensen from Rødt. He answered the questions at the end of November and at the beginning of January. Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) pointed both times to the fact that the Norwegian Road Administration believes that rolling tests are the best method for testing brakes. But are the problems solved? See what the Swedish Road Administration answers at the end of this article. Tested three times Andersen got the mechanic at Scania to show him how well Finsrud’s trailer braked on the road. They used Scania’s own equipment to measure the deceleration. The mechanic told him to bring the trailer back the next day. Although it was clear that the brakes were good on the road, it had to be approved after checking on rolling tests. The next day he had another check-up. Nothing else had been fixed apart from a minor air leak which had been fixed in the workshop the day before. Result: 0.37. So the same as the day before. The mechanic asked Finsrud to drive a few laps outside and come back when the brakes were warmer. Then there was another test. Result: 0.41. Still below the limit. Now Finsrud understood nothing. He did not want to give up, and made Scania continue testing. They raised the wheels, so that more load was simulated on the trailer, and tested again. Result: 0.52. The brakes had suddenly become much better. Passed by a good margin, without having fixed anything between the last tests. – You simulate a little more weight by lifting the wheels. It shouldn’t have anything to say about the braking power, says Finsrud. – Scania must be surprised when a trailer arrives with a result of 0.37 and leaves with 0.52. Øystein Finsrud says he dreads the brake inspection every year. Photo: Private – Scares me every time The reason why Finsrud reacts so strongly this time is because he has been through a similar procedure before. In December 2016, he had a trailer that he had just bought, hardly used, but which scored very poorly on the roll tester. He thought that could not be true. Tests on the road showed that the brakes were good. For just over a month, he had the brakes tested again and again on roller testers. The results were never the same. In the end, he got the brakes approved after just over a month and with six different results from rolling testers. Helge Andersen, who has previously worked for almost 30 years in the Norwegian Road Administration, believed the case was so serious that he sent a notification to the Ministry of Transport. After this experience, Finsrud bought a new trailer to avoid having to go through something like that again. – I dread it every time. I know that if the hanger doesn’t go through, I’ll get a charge. I have so many vehicles that I have to go through this almost every month, he says. Several people are reacting to the roll samples Finsrud is not the only one who has had problems with the roll samples recently, however. In recent weeks, news has been in contact with several people. One of them is Fredrik Belland Olsen, who owns and operates Alt i Anlegg. He was due for an EU inspection with his one-year-old trailer at Scania in Arendal at the end of January. For this trailer, the Zt requirement was 0.50. However, on the roller tester it first got a result of 0.48. So not approved. In the middle of the sheet, quite far down, the figure stands at 48 per cent. That means a Zt of 0.48. Photo: Private – I spoke to my driver who drove the trailer to the workshop. I knew how little that trailer had been used. It was of good quality. This sounded completely wrong, he says. Belland Olsen is relatively new to the industry, and had no previous experience with roller testers. – So when we were told to pull out the ABS cable and drive around and brake with the trailer to warm up the brakes properly for a few hours, we did it. The follower of Fredrik Belland Olsen. He states that this is a new trailer with disc brakes. In the past, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has pointed to older and uneven drum brakes as a source of error on rolling testers. Photo: Privat When Belland Olsen’s trailer was tested again on the roller tester, he got a new result. Barely above the approval requirement, he interpreted it as. The trailer was approved, but Belland Olsen was still puzzled by the result. He got Helge Andersen to test the trailer’s brakes on the way. Now it got a Zt of 0.60 on repeated attempts. – I got backwards. It got stiff wheels on wet asphalt. I felt myself getting angry. – You got to test this twice on roller testers. According to what the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has told news earlier, the correct procedure is that you should only test once. What do you think about it? – It is absolutely hopeless. It is so clear that the rolling tests do not work, says Belland Olsen. Fredrik Belland Olsen reacts to the fact that his trailer got two different braking results. Photo: Privat For both Belland Olsen and Finsrud, only one test in this context would mean workshop bills because their trailers were not approved at the first test. Such a workshop bill can quickly amount to several tens of thousands, according to information news has received. But Belland Olsen had not received the second result from the roll test. When he went to get it, he got it handwritten from Scania. Zt stood as 0.61. The trailer had thus gone from 0.48 to 0.61 in the same day, without fixing anything. Here you can see control sheet number two. The check was taken two hours later. The brakes have become much better. Photo: Privat Known for many years, news has mentioned the control of brakes on heavy vehicles several times in recent months. Among other things in the documentary “Collision”. Variations and errors in the results from the rolling tests were something that worried the road authorities for many years. Ever since a major investigation in 1999. But now the concern has been put to rest: the Swedish Road Administration has stated repeatedly that this method is the best for testing brakes. They believe they have an international professional environment and the major industry organizations behind them. The Swedish Road Administration acknowledges that the rolling tests can give small variations in results, but that this is acceptable. But are the differences always small? With a Zt of 0.37, Finsrud’s trailer has a braking distance of just over 66 meters at 80 km/h. With a Zt of 0.52, the braking distance at 80 km/h is 47 metres. – The variations Finsrud got were not small. There are enormous differences, believes Helge Andersen. He acknowledges that he will never be objective in this matter. For over 15 years, he has announced the rolling tests, and he even invented a tool that could be used in connection with testing brakes on the road. This tool was first applauded in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, but then put aside. He believes that quality assurance of the results from the rolling tests is needed. – I am contacted almost daily by desperate truck owners. I genuinely feel sorry for them, because the costs are so great. They are met with arrogance. The Swedish Road Administration believes the problems have been solved. They have not been resolved, says Andersen. – We are not looking to criticize individual workshops or mechanics. There is something wrong with the system. Everything from training to use. Helge Andersen has been reporting errors and deficiencies in brake controls for several years. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news Scania: – We are following the instructions from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration John Lauvstad, director of marketing, communication and sustainability at Norsk Scania, answers on their behalf. – Scania has no comments on the difference between testing on the brake roller or on the road. When Scania carries out a brake test in connection with PKK (EU inspection, editor’s note), we do this on behalf of the Norwegian Road Administration and follow the instructions laid down by them, he says. Lauvstad believes there are several things during an inspection that can lead to them wanting to test a vehicle again. For example, it may be too lightly loaded, have wet tires or cold brakes. – When everything is perfect, dry tires and brake rollers, full load and so on, one test is sufficient to assess the vehicle’s deceleration value. He sees no reason for additional quality assurance of results from roll testers. The Swedish Road Administration responds In recent months, the Swedish Road Administration has repeatedly defended the use of the rolling tests, but what do they think now? So both Finsrud and Belland Olsen got different results on the same vehicle at the same place. – What do you think about the different results Finsrud and Belland Olsen have obtained on roll tests? – It is difficult for us to comment on the results of roll brake tests without seeing the full test result, and without knowing how the test was carried out. When you test the brakes several times in succession, you will get different results due to the brakes getting hot. We are aware of this and have been clear all along, says press contact Torstein Paulsen, in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s department for road users and vehicles. Torstein Paulsen in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news He still believes that rolling tests are the best method for testing brakes, and he believes that this is supported by an international professional environment. – What do you think that both were allowed to test the brakes on their vehicles several times? The Swedish Road Administration has previously said that the correct procedure is to test once… – If you think the test has not been carried out correctly, you should request a new test. Exactly what has happened in this case is difficult for us to comment on, says Paulsen. Nor does he see any reason for quality assurance of the results: – The roller brake tests are calibrated by accredited companies annually. In addition, everyone who carries out roller brake tests must have undergone their own training. This helps to ensure the quality of the results from the roller brake tests, says Paulsen. READ NRKS’ PREVIOUS REPORTS ON THE CASE:
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Øystein Finsrud’s trailer got three different braking results on the same day – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
