Fake tad° driver was 'exhausted'
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THE Charter Road-ways fake tachograph records trial has continued at Preston Crown Court (CM, February 1) with one driver claiming that he had to spend a period in hospital suffering from physical exhaustion after working for the company for about 12 months.
Andrew Day of Blackpool said he started working for Charter after passing his Class One driving test with no previous experience of haulage. He started as a casual driver with a take-home pay of £80 to £85 a week. After three months he worked on a self employed basis.
He had falsified charts to get through the work.
He worked 96 hours in an average week; more than once he worked 24 hours a day, and some times worked as much as 36 hours at a time.
He had not realised the risks he was running by falsifying charts, but he continued to do so as the other drivers were falsifying.
He had started with Charter Roadways in January 1983 and he spent a week in hospital at the end of 1983 as a result of physical exhaustion.
Peter Walker of Blackpool said that when he started working for Charter Roadways he was told he would earn up to G53000 a year as a self-employed driver and he "thought that he had won the pools".
But his accounts for the first year showed a net profit of £53002. The gross income was £18,393.55. The outgoings without any deductions for wages totalled
Robert Rogers of Leyland said he had sometimes run without a chart in his tachograph. He even ran with a second chart which he later threw away.
He agreed there were instances in which he falsified charts in order to get home. He said he had to get home to eat as he could not afford to pay motorway service area prices.
The trial is continuing.