Two week ban
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The two-vehicle licence held by Royston Buckler of Buckley, North Wales has been suspended for two weeks following the falsification of tachograph records, the use of a false 0-licence disc and the use of an unauthorised operating centre. Buckler has also been given three months to find a new transport manager.
Buckler, trading as %NB Haulage, and his transport manager, Albert Hutchinson, had been called before Welsh Traffic Commissioner David Dixon.
Traffic examiner Richard Vd1 said that one of Buckler's vehicles was stopped in Bristol in November 1998 and a number of offences were discovered. As a result he obtained various documents from British Steel at Shotton. Driver Geoffrey Colgate later admitted nine offences of falsifying tachograph charts and Buckler admitted to 20 similar offences.
Mill said there were discrepancies between the odometer readings and the distance traces; trips had been made between Buckley and British Steel without charts in the tachographs. Three tachograph charts were missing. The vehicle stopped in Bristol had been displaying a blue disc saying that a licence had been applied for.
When interviewed, Buckler said he had bought the vehicle in October 1998. He had a margin on his licence and he had simply forgotten to send the paperwork off 'Hutchinson, an engineering consultant, had agreed to act as transport manager so Buckler could obtain an 0-licence, However, Buckler had let him down on the undertakings he had given him, Hutchinson added; the hours offences were kept from him.
Hutchinson told the TC that he had his own 0-licence at one time and had operated for seven years without any problems. Buckler had been one of his drivers. When British Steel found out about the convictions they had banned Buckler for two weeks, which had cost him £5,000 in turnover.
The TC found that Hutchinson had lost his good repute as a transport manager. Buckler's and Colgate's HGV driving licences were also suspended for two weeks.