Farm duties led to working over hours
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• Insufficient rest and breaks have cost two drivers employed by Skipton livestock haulier Howard's Haulage a total of £280 in fines and costs.
Andrew Newhouse and Christopher Panter each pleaded guilty to five offences of taking insufficient daily rest, taking insufficient weekly rest and driving for 4.5 hours without taking the required 45minute break,
when they appeared before the Skipton magistrates.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Richard Wadkin said the offences had come to light during a check on the firm's tachograph records for November 1996.
Defending, John Backhouse said both men had grown up in the countryside and were accustomed to the long hours called for by animal husbandry.
The difficulty had not been one of excessive hours but the spreadover of the working day which could arise when livestock had to be delivered to markets early and returned to farms at the end of the day Both drivers had failed to fully understand the regulations, said Backhouse. As a result their employer had now arranged training for them on the hours regulations.
Fining the men £20 per offence, and ordering them each to pay £40 towards the costs of the prosecution, the magistrates said they felt able to take a lenient view as they were satisfied that road safety had not been a feature in this case.
They added that it was clear from the tacho charts that the driving time on most days was only small, as the distances were short.
The hearing of allegations that Howard's Haulage permitted the offences committed by the two men was adjourned pending the result of an appeal to the House of Lords involving a coach operator accused of similar offences.