LA imposes a hard line on hours rules
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• North Eastern LA Keith Waterworth has warned that drivers hours is such an important issue that a "drivers' hours task force" has been set up.
Waterworth was speaking at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry where he cut the authorisation on the licence held by York livestock haulier F Machin & Son from 10 vehicles and 15 trailers to six vehicles and eight trailers, He curtailed the licence by a year.
PC Bell, of North Yorkshire Police, told the inquiry that when he analysed tachograph charts from the company he discovered a series of offences.
Bell said that driver Dominic Fitzgerald had driven for as long as 12hr 40min with only 2hr 40min rest, and for 6hr 42min with only 42min break Mark Walker had driven for 241ir 16min with only 8hr 51min rest, and for 6hr 6min with a 27inin break. Ronald Davidson had driven as many as 15 consecutive days without a weekly rest period; for 96hr 56min in a fortnight; and for 16hr 19min with only 8hr 27min rest. Andrew James had had as little as 6hr rest in a 24hr period; had driven for seven consecutive days; and for 104hr 6min in a fortnight. David Colgate had driven for 14hr with only 8hr 53min rest. The drivers were given written cautions.
For Machin, Chris Charlesworth said the company ran into difficulties in 1992 when it was convicted of 34 drivers' hours offences. It then appeared before the LA in July 1993 when its licence authorisation was cut.
The company only employed experienced livestock drivers, said Charlesworth, and it discouraged them from exceeding the hours limits by paying a flat rate. A contract had been signed with tachograph consultants TCI; cab phones were fitted in the vehicles and drivers could ring TCI at any time. There was a continuing driver training programme and every driver was issued with a handbook.
In June the company was convicted of permitting 10 weekly
rest offences by Davidson but it was acquitted of permitting a further 20 offences committed by other drivers, Manager Peter Howarth said the company specialised in moving sheep to France with backloads of wine and apples. A sample of tacho charts were sent to TO for analysis: each driver's charts were analysed at least once every five months.
The company did not allocate work to drivers that could not be done within the hours limits, he added, and, in reply to the LA, Howarth said he felt that sending one driver's charts for checking each month was adequate. The company was educating drivers more than checking charts.
The LA had said that an analysis sheet dated October 1993 showed Davidson had insufficient daily rest on nine occasions, yet he was still breaching the drivers' hours rules in 1994. Howarth said Davidson no longer worked for the company.
Waterworth was satisfied the company was not encouraging its drivers to break the law but said it was clear all was not right with the way that drivers' hours were being controlled. Taking no action against the drivers' LGV driving licences other than to issue formal warnings, Waterworth said those in the Northeast who demonstrated they could not operate within the law would be targeted, and if they did it again a rigid approach would be taken, The drivers' hours rules were not optional but obligatory.