Suspension for operator with 13 prohibitions in five years
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AN ABATTOIR operator with 13 prohibitions in five years has had the use of one of its vehicles suspended for two weeks.
Vehicle examiner Colin Haselden told NorthWestern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Patrick Mulvenna that four immediate and nine delayed prohibitions had been issued to J Morphet & Sons of Widnes over the past five years.
Maintenance records were unsatisfactory and inspections were not at the agreed intervals during an investigation in November. A prohibition was imposed for a defective speed limiter.
Jonathan Lawton, for the company, said director and transport manager Charles Morphet and the drivers had received outside training for defect reporting. Tyres were checked monthly by a tyre contractor, who had been doing so for 20 years. The firm had now entered a maintenance contract with a commercial garage run by Morphet's son. Although some vehicles were quite old, there was a large stock of parts to enable them to be adequately maintained.
Morphet said that previously he had undertaken the maintenance, but had been considering not doing it himself as he was 68 and thought it was timeto take the wife out a bit".
The Deputy TC said there was clearly a problem with speed limiters, which might have been tampered with. Morphet agreed they had not been analysing the tachograph Summary charts. They were dealing with perishable goods, but that did not mean they condoned speeding.
The DTC imposed a series of undertakings regarding vehicle maintenance, including sending the tachograph charts for outside analysis and introducing a proper disciplinary procedure for drivers.