Records of hours worked (2)
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The Road Traffic Act 1962, Section 20 provides that it shall be a good defence for the holder of a carrier's licence charged with failing to cause records to be kept to prove that he used all due diligence to secure compliance with the Regulations. However in Series v Poole (1968) 2 WLR 261 it was held that the duty to cause records to be kept is absolute and personal, so that a licence holder who had delegated his responsibility for supervising driver's records cannot establish a defence under this section that he used all due diligence to secure compliance with the requirements unless he proves that all due diligence was used by the person to whom he had delegated the responsibility.
Section 227 of the Road Traffic Act 1960 requires that records of hours worked must be produced to a Ministry of Transport certifying officer or examiner or to a police officer and that the vehicle may be delayed for such time as necessary for inspecting and copying the documents.
There is a great deal of interesting case law on this subject. For example. in Mackie v MacLeod 119561 SI.T 716 a fitter employed by a municipal transport department to repair buses who drove a C-licensed vehicle carrying spare parts from one municipal garage to another was held to a be a part-time driver and therefore liable to keep the appropriate records.
In Gross Cash Registers Ltd. v Vogt (1966) 3 All ER. 832 a salesman drove a C-licensed van in the course of his employment. He was under no obligation to drive the van but was free to do his work as he chose. e.g. on foot or by using public transport. It was held that he came within the definition of a part-time d Aver and should have kept records.
An offence is committed if an item is entered before the particulars are ascertained, as in Nelson v Coventry Swaging Co. Ltd. 119361 24 Traff Cas 68; the driver's employers were convicted of failing to cause current records to be kept even though the entries as to his working hours—made in advance—were proved to be correct.
As was mentioned earlier, drivers of vehicles used in the business of agriculture need not keep records of journeys under 25 miles from base. As might be expected, there have been several cases where the term "business of agriculture" has been in dispute. In Flatman v Poole, Flatman v (Dailey (1937) 7 Al/ ER. 495 it was held that a farmer using his vehicle to carry agricultural implements and furniture from one farm to another was the "business of agriculture". A similar decision was reached where a farmer carried vegetables grown on his farm to a place for retail sale and it was also decided that it made no difference whether the customer was buying wholesale or retail for his own consumption. Manley v Dobson (1949) 2 All E.R. 578.
A greengrocer who sent his lorry to collect a standing crop of broccoli was held not to be engaged in the business of agriculture (Leach v Cooker 1950) 48 LGR 526, neither was a person selling and distributing milk by retail (Fillingham v
There is a maximum penalty of a fine of £20 for the first offence and £50 for a second or subsequent offence for failing to keep or to produce records when required.
IN BRIEF ...
VACU -LUG
The Vacu-Lug Tyre Organisation's depot at Cotchester has been moved to new and larger premises at 27 BLuebridge Industrial Estate. Halstead, Essex (phone: Halstead 3748). Opened on Monday, the new branch carries full stocks of all reconditioned tyres produced by the company's factory at Grantham.
QUINTON HAZELL
Quinton Hazel! (Holdings) Ltd., Leamington Spa, has announced plans for a motor component plant in Belgium. A new company—Quinton Hazen Europe SA— has been formed and will he based in Jumet. 8 km from Charleroi, where its 15-acre plot fronts on to a road which is to become a new autoroute linking Brussels and Paris. Factory designs and layout are now being devised for construction before December this year. The plant is eventually to manufacture the company's range of replacement components for Continental vehicles. Apart Corn meeting sales demands throughout EEC, it will supply the UK with Continental vehicle replacement parts.