1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
Tip-off leads to revocation
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Drivers' hour offences blight Frans Maas subsidiary — Michael Jewell reports
YARE HAULAGE, a subsidiary of shipping and forwarding giant Frans Maas, has had its 36-vehicle licence revoked after four drivers repeatedly flouted the hours regulations.
The Great Yarmouth firm was called to a disciplinary inquiry before Eastern Traffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms, who also disqualified the company and its MD, Peter Pawlett, from holding an 0-licence for two years.
The licence revocation is due to begin on 9 October.
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency had launched an investigation following two anonymous tip-offs which pointed the finger at the firm, and then named drivers.
An examination of the 342 tachograph charts produced by the drivers concerned revealed that four of them had committed 47 offences of exceeding the daily driving limit, taking insufficient daily rest, exceeding 90 hours driving in a fortnight. and failing to take the required break after 41/2 hours' driving: and one offence of taking more than three reduced rest periods in a week.
One particular contract, which involved moving goods between Dagenham and Fosse in France for Ford. had left drivers vulnerable to breaching regulations. said traffic examiner John Perkins.
Two of the drivers said they had complained to the company that they had experienced problems completing their scheduled duties within the legal boundaries. They claimed they had been put under pressure from operations manager Brian Blowers and told the inquiry that if they did not do the work they were treated badly.
The TC remarked that the maximum driving limits were often being exceeded at the end of the working week, during which time insufficient rest had frequently been taken, making those drivers particularly vulnerable to a loss of concentration as they made their way home. This was a frightening prospect, he added.These offences could and,moreimportantly,should have been detected.
He gave little credit for the subsequent action taken by the corn pany as he felt the malpractices would probably have continued if it were not for the traffic examiner's intervention. That weighed heavily on his mind as did Blowers' reported indifference to the drivers' pleas that they were being asked to do too much.
The company could have produced evidence to show that its remaining drivers had observed the drivers' hours rules during the period concerned, but it had not chosen to do so.
A spokesman for Frans Maas says: "Following the visit by the traffic examiner in late 2003 an action plan was put in place to rectify the shortcomings at Yare Haulage and further enhancements will now be implemented following the release of the decision.
"Legal advice is being sought for an appeal to be made to have the licence reinstated. Until that point Yare Haulage will continue to trade and operate as normal."