H.g.v. licences will bring records discipline'
Page 43
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• When the provisions of the 1967 Road Safety Act are brought into effect it is to be hoped that some discipline will be brought into heavy goods vehicle driving by the introduction of h.g.v. licences which could be revoked for misconduct, said Mr. J. A. T. Hanlon, Northern LA, in Newcastle on Friday.
He had called J. R. Henderson (Transport and Storage) Ltd., Newburn, to a Section 178 inquiry following 10 convictions since 1964 for hours and records offences and convictions for overloading and for failing to have a road fund licence. On February 7 this year, the company had been fined a total of £130 on eight charges by Newcastle magistrates.
For Henderson, Mr. G. B. Montgomery said that following its second conviction in February 1966 it had appointed a retired policeman to be responsible for the records. The 1967 conviction had arisen because a driver had taken records home without permission and mutilated them.
On the latest occasion, large amounts of Domestos had spilt on the driver's clothes during trans-shipment, necessitated by the load moving, and he had returned home immediately without taking his scheduled 24 hours' rest. He had not recorded this so Henderson was unaware of it until the Ministry check.
In mitigation, Mr. Montgomery submitted that even though the company had a deplorable history of records offences, it had never been convicted for bad maintenance and in fact it operated a very modern fleet.
Mr. J. R. Henderson, managing director, said his drivers were not instructed to phone in at the end of their driving day although they contacted the office at least once a day. The LA advised Mr. Henderson that transfer charge calls would ascertain drivers' whereabouts for their records.
Suspending one vehicle for one month, Mr. Hanlon noted that two Henderson vehicles had been overloaded on the same day. "When drivers' and hauliers' driving licences are placed in jeopardy, we may get a little bit of action and startling results regarding overloading", he commented.
W. Porteus and Sons, builders and contractors of Darlington, also appeared at the 178 inquiry following convictions against one of the partners, Wilfred Porteus, on December 28, 1967, when he was fined a total of £103 on 13 counts regarding the illegal operation of two C-licensed vehicles.
The charges included defective tyres and steering, using the vehicle in a dangerous condition and failing to have a goods vehicle licence.
Mr. J. A. Porteus, a partner, said that when the vehicles received their immediate prohibitions they had been taken off sitework without permission and they had now been scrapped.
The LA removed one of these vehicles from the licence and warned of possible licence revocation on any future occasion.