OVERLOADING
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QI am at odds with my management team over the problem of overloading.
We loaded and weighed a visiting lorry and it was overweight. The driver agreed to go away with the load — I objected and directed the driver to offload the balance.
My colleague disagreed with me, saying that as the driver had agreed to go away overloaded, we then were not accountable. Do you agree with me?
Are there any stated cases which you could quote on this subject of overloading at "base"? RT, Portsmouth AOverloading is one of the most emotive subjects in our industry. Many people would always advocate prosecuting the consignor, but there is no legal machinery to do it.
If you knowingly allowed a driver (whether employed by you or not) to go onto a public highway overloaded, without pointing it out to him, you may be guilty of aiding and abetting the offence — but who is going to prove it? Ultimately, as the High Court has said, it is the user's responsibility.
Due diligence by an operator is not yet an accepted defence. However, more and more courts are giving absolute discharges when advocates mitigate properly. The RHA must be applauded for their efforts in this area but more people in the industry should assist them in their fight to get "due diligence" fully recognised.