TELL IT TO YOUR ANALYST
Page 7
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Joe Soap haulier is worried. In front of him on his desk is a problem-500 problems to be precise. Scattered across the table top, rubbing shoulders with the usual detritus of empty coffee cups, burnt-out exhaust valves and overdue invoices, is six month's worth of tacho charts. But what to do with them? Until now Joe's been happy to hang them on a six-inch nail driven into the traffic office wall, and leave them there—but not any more. Since that recent "surprise" visit from the Vehicle Inspectorate, and an unscheduled appearance in front of his local Traffic Commissioner for poor record keeping, Joe's been told to send them out For independent analysis. The trouble is, he's worried about what his analyst will find. Hidden in that pile are enough misdemeanours to hang every one of his drivers several times over. And the trail of misdeeds won't end with them. Of course Joe's been meaning to get around to checking the charts and taking "firm action" against his drivers, only he's not at all sure what the law says anyway. The booklet he's got on EU drivers' hours is about as easy to follow as a Taiwanese circuit diagram—and in any case, who can get the job done these days by running to drivers' hours? If Joe would but realise it, before him is a valuable fleet management tool packed with information that could help make his business more profitable, pro fessional and legal. Unfortunately he's no idea just how legal. Judging by the comments from an analysis bureau in our letters page this week (page 24) far too many operators are like our friend Joe. And those who do get their charts analysed often exhibit a strange ambivalence when it comes to acting on what's revealed by the check. Are you checking your charts? And then what?