Watch those tacho charts for speeding
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LAs have wide powers to punish
III Operators and drivers of goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight, that is all vehicles, apart from certain exemptions, requiring an HGV driving licence, are aware that they must not exceed a speed limit of 60mph.
While it is true that a prosecution for speeding can not be brought on the sole evidence of a tachograph chart, it should be borne in mind that tachograph charts must be kept for at least 12 months and will reveal at a glance cases of persistently exceeding 60mph.
Under the new EEC tachograph regulations, drivers need only retain the cab charts for the current week and for the last day they drove in the previous week. Reductions in the daily rest period must be compensated by the end of the following week and reductions in weekly rest by the end of the third week following the week in which the reduction took place.
It follows therefore that if an enforcement officer in a road-side check is handed charts which show reduced rest periods being quite legally taken, he may nevertheless need to see charts for a period of four consecutive weeks to check whether appropriate additional rest periods have been properly taken to compensate for the reductions.
This will entail a visit to the vehicle's base to inspect four weeks charts. Assuming such a visit reveals that the hours position is perfectly satisfactory and all the legally required compensatory periods of rest have been properly taken, what if those four weeks' charts reveal persistent speeding by an HGV?
The enforcement officer is likely to report the position to the Licensing Authority, who may wish to know what action the operator has taken by way of disciplining a driver clearly guilty of persistently breaking the speed limit laws. The operator now has a legal duty to organise drivers' work in such a way that drivers are able to comply with the hours regulations. Why then was it necessary for this driver to repeatedly exceed the speed limit for his vehicle?
Licensing Authorities have very wide powers to punish operators and drivers, whether or not they have been prosecuted in court for offences against the law. Tachograph evidence of persistent speeding could be sufficient grounds to persuade an LA to consider taking action against both the driver and the operator. The HGV and operators licence could be in danger from disciplinary procedures and therefore their very livelihoods could be at risk.
Better to remember the joint campaign by the Freight Transport Association and Road Haulage Association: there is No Need to Speed!
by Frank Lewsey