One man business tripped on records
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FINES and costs totalling £445 were imposed on Brian Waddington (Continental Transport) Ltd, Holmfirth, and one of its drivers, when they pleaded guilty to offences in connection with international journeys, at Huddersfield Magistrates last week.
The company faced two charges of using a vehicle on an international journey without a permit; nine of failing to ensure that records were kept; five of failing to ensure that the driver handed the records in; one each of allowing a driver to have insufficient rest, of failing to maintain a register of issue of record books, and of failing to issue a record book.
David Dickinson, the driver, of Skelmanthorpe, faced nine charges of failing to enter records, five of failing to hand records in and one of having insufficient rest.
Prosecuting, Michael Pater son said the company, which concentrated exclusively on international transport, was in essence a one-man business.
A lot of the driving was done by the managing director, Brian Waddington, and Mr Dickinson had been employed to drive the company's second vehicle.
Hauliers carrying export traffic had to have international journey permits. These were very valuable documents, being limited by quota. They could not be obtained at will.
Last May, one of the company's vehicles was stopped by a police officer in Kent. The driver produced an Italian permit, but as the officer doubted its authenticity, he made further enquiries.
All the offences were revealed when the company's drivers' records were examined during the course of these enquiries.
These showed that on two occa'sions the company had operated illegally, flying in the face of the law, on journeys which were undertaken without any permit at all.
The records offences were a matter of badly kept records. This was not a case where records had been deliberately falsified to cover the driving of excessive hours.
For the defendants, Andrew Robertson said the permit offences had arisen when, on both occasions, the vehicle concerned had been hired to Rich Tower Transport and they had changed the journeys to be undertaken without notifying the defendants' company.
It felt so strongly about this, that the drastic step had been taken to refuse to do any further work for Rich Tower Transport.
The records offences because the person emj to check records had taken ill and, becau pressure of work, Mr dington had failed to them himself.
He had assumed th Dickinson had known fill them in correctly, I had been wrong.
Positive steps had taken to prevent any rence. Someone had employed to assist in chi records, and the busine been reorganised. The pany now hired out vehi owner drivers with thei 0-licences.
The company was fin on the permit offence £230 on the records offer was ordered to pay £50 c Mr Dickinson was fi total of £125.