Hours interpretation varies
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• The interpretation of the EC drivers hours and tachograph regulations varied across the country, Norwich Magistrates were told when Machayes International Transport, seven drivers and the company's managing director, appeared before them accused of a series of drivers hours and tachograph offences.
The company and the drivers pleaded not guilty to charges alleging failures to record rest periods.
Alan Kefford, prosecuting, said whether or not drivers should enter rest periods on their tachograph charts was in dispute. However, the regulations were dear. Charts should not be withdrawn from the tachograph. When a driver left the vehicle the time should be entered on the chart.
Defending, Ian Rothera said that he would give different advice to drivers in the Eastern Area than in the north. He maintained that the very action of manually entering a finishing time on a chart had been held to be defacing the chart and had led to drivers being prosecuted elsewhere. He also claimed that drivers were being fined on the spot on the Continent for actions that were required by traffic examiners in Norfolk.
The magistrates found the charges proved but gave all the defendants an absolute discharge.
The drivers and the company's managing director also pleaded guilty to a series of offences, including the falsification of charts. The company admitted failing to produce tachograph charts and permitting a number of the drivers' offences.
The company's drivers were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £1,230. Owner-driver Trevor Kindleysides was fined £3,850 for 21 offences and ordered to pay £662 costs. Managing director Alec Machaye was fined £1,000 with 225 costs, for two offences of falsifying charts. The company was fined £1,800 with £662 costs.
Twelve drivers employed by Patterson Bulk Liquids, of Batley, were given absolute discharges for drivers' hours offences after Dewsbury Magistrates were told that the Department of Transport's guide was misleading.
The 12 drivers, with another five who were each fined £50 for failing to take sufficient weekly rest, admitted 17 offences of taking insufficient daily rest and one 4-1 hour driving offence. They were all ordered to pay £25 prosecution costs.
Senior traffic examiner Bryan Walscher said that no proceedings had been brought against the company as it had a formula for dealing with drivers' hours. Nobody who could be said to be the "brains" of the company was aware that the analysis of tachograph charts being undertaken was no longer adequate. However, if the drivers were convicted, it would be a matter for the Licensing Authority to decide what action to take against the company.
Defending, Gary Hodgson said that on completion of a day's work the drivers had taken rest periods amounting to 11 hours. They had thought that that was adequate.
Producing the Dip booklet "Drivers' hours and tachograph rules for goods vehicles in the UK and Europe", Hodgson said that it did not talk about a period of 24 hours, as did the regulations, but about a "day". He pointed out that a Crown Court Judge had recently asked Brussels for clarification of the regulations. He wanted to know how drivers could be expected to understand the law when a Crown Court Judge and the DTp could not interpret it properly.