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Standard procedure
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Trading Standards officers in Suffolk are winning the war on overloaded vehicles, but they are still fighting sat-nay misuse and general ignorance.
Words: Chris Tindall / images: Tom Lee
TRADING STANDARDS officers in Suffolk say truck drivers are needlessly flouting weight restrictions and rules because they are relying solely on satellite navigation systems.
Despite the existence of up to six road signs on some stretches of road warning of imminent lorry restrictions and providing information on alternative routes, drivers are still breaching the weight limits.
A CM investigation has revealed five commercial vehicles, including a 7.5-tonne lorry, flouting a three-tonne restriction in less than 20 minutes despite the appearance of several signs warning of a weakened bridge ahead.
A 3.5-tonne vehicle stopped short of the weight-restricted bridge, which acts as a link road between the A14 and the All, when it clocked the Trading Standards marked vehicle and made a U-turn.
However, Trading Standards says its enforcement work has led to a substantial reduction in the number of trucks breaking the law and is confident that further increases in compliance will be brought about through a combination of enforcement and education.
Peter Westcott, road traffic enforcement officer, says: "I visit local hauliers and try to get the message over. I will make a personal visit to someone who has offended to try to prevent repeat offences. We always get a good reception as well; operators are just as keen to stop it as we are."
But Ti-ading Standards is battling major problems with drivers from outside of the county relying too heavily on sat-nay systems not designed for lorries and even companies unaware of the law regarding vehicle weights.
Westcott says: "One of the biggest excuses we get is that they were following sat-nay. In fact, it's the biggest problem. We had a company write back to us; they apologised for the driver but blamed the sat-nay system and said they were going to take it up with the sat-nay company!"
He adds: "There is a failure of firms to adequately train drivers. Companies certainly have a responsibility to have the vehicles routed correctly. The driver still has to observe the road signs. Often you ring companies up and they haven't got a clue either. The biggest offending weight range is the 3.5-tonne to 7.5-tonne brigade."
Authoritarian approach
That said, during 2007/08, Trading Standards also detected as many as 800 vehicles weighing over 7.5 tonnes using Suffolk roads and bridges illegally. Westcott adds: "And these are only the ones we have seen. God knows how many there really have been."
Trading Standards says success will come from increased awareness of its role and the obligations of drivers and haulage companies.
Enforcement agencies often come under criticism from transport firms for taking an overly authoritarian approach hut CM:s investigation reveals an exasperated department that is unwilling to prosecute drivers unless absolutely necessary.
Drivers caught contravening weight restrictions on weight-restricted roads are normally given a written warning on the first occasion. On the second or subsequent occasion they will be prosecuted. The exception to this is 32-tonne vehicles and above: they will be prosecuted immediately. Average fines are around £300, though they can be up to £1,000.
Westcott says:"We warn far more than we prosecute. We tend to prosecute the large vehicles straight off. It's very rare to find someone come back a second time when they have had a written warning.
-We want to raise the awareness as to weight-restricted roads in Suffolk and the way to avoid problems," he continues. "We are here to help anyone who has enquiries. What does frustrate me is it's so easy to avoid it. A lot of drivers are untrained and have no idea about load complicity." •