Agency drivers 'surprise'
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• Mr John Peyton, Minister for Transport Industries, told the Commons on Wednesday that enforcement officers of the DoE would be "devoting some attention" to infringements relating to the section of the Transport Act which concerns agencies hiring goods vehicle drivers to hauliers — an announcement later greeted by the Freight Transport Association with "disturbed surprise".
Section 92 (2) of the Act stipulates that in the case of employee-drivers the user should be deemed the person whose servant or agent the driver is. An FTA spokesman told CM that he was surprised at the decision to enforce this section of the Act. Discussion earlier with the DoE had shown some anomalies, and a change in the law rather than enforcement was expected. Many member firms were in the habit of transferring drivers from one subsidiary to. another but driving vehicles on a different 0 licence — and these activities were covered by the Act.
FTA members were being consulted in a nationwide survey, said the spokesman.