Offender's 0-lic cut
Page 12
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DRIVERS' HOURS convictions have led to a Leeds meat and livestock haulier having its operator's licence cut from nine vehicles and II trailers to only three vehicles and five trailers, and to it being renewed for one year only.
North-Eastern Licensing Authority Frederick Whalley heard that last August, EWS Transport was fined £.1,920 after admitting permitting 24 drivers' hours and tachograph offences, (CM, August 31). He said the offences were caused by inadequate managem en t supervision, but measures taken to correct this dissuaded him from revoking the licence on grounds of lost repute.
Traffic examiner Keith Williamson said the offences came to light Following a silent check.
Driver James Umpleby had committed 15 offences of falsifying tachograph records by driving without putting a chart in his tachograph.
Driver Philip Richmond had committed 19 offences of excessive hours and driver Tony Cartwright four similar offences and one offence of failing to enter the odometer reading on a chart.
Seven years before, Umpleby had been in trouble over the falsification of drivers' log sheets and the company had been in trouble for similar offences of drivers exceeding the hours limits.
In reply to Stephen Kirkbright, for the company. Williamson said that Umpleby's charts were immaculate and the of fences only came to light when the distance trace was checked against the odometer readings.
The other two drivers had made no attempt to hide the fact they had been driving excessive hours.
When interviewed, Cartwright and Richmond said they had estimated journey times wrongly and had carried on rather than parking up, to avoid distress to the animals. But sonic of the offences were committed while running empty to Scotland.
Chairman and managing director Eric Swires said the company's transport manager had left 18 months ago and he had asked his assistant to take over the checking of the tachograph charts. But she had no previous experience of reading charts and he relied more upon the drivers.
The company now operates three vehicles and five trailers, and employs five drivers, instead of three, so that the vehicles can be double manned on long journeys.
The drivers are paid a guaranteed £.200 a week, without overtime or subsistence payments, so there is no longer any incentive to exceed the hours limits. An experienced man is paid a 1:2,000-ayear retainer to check the charts at the weekend.
Swires told Whalley that the company had not honoured the undertaking to ensure the regulations were complied with when it had applied for the licence. He said that it had been bad management on his part.
Kirkbright said the statem en t had been made genuinely and perhaps because of human error and a lack of supervision the system had fallen down.
To conclude that Swires had lost his repute, the LA had to be satisfied that Mr Swires had positively known or had not cared that offences had been committed.