We carry containers ourselves but also sub-contract work to smaller
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operators and owner-drivers. Shipping company advice notes give the weight of a container's contents but not the total weight of the container. Sometimes the net weights are inaccurate by a few tonnes. Consequently, the weight we pass on to the sub-contractor can be wrong.
Now and then people have been prosecuted for overloading when a container has been heavier than advised. Are we liable for any offence if we give a wrong weight and the vehicle is found to be overweight when on the road?
A You could be liable if you
knew the weight of the container and that its transport would be an offence.
If a sub-contractor were caught with an overweight vehicle he would usually be prosecuted, under Section 41B of the Road Traffic Act 1988, for using the vehicle in contravention of a weight restriction. The prosecution would not have to prove he knew of the overload.
That Section also says it is an offence for a person to cause or permit such a contravention. However, to obtain a conviction, the prosecution would have to prove the person knew the vehicle was overloaded or turned a blind eye to an obvious overload.
If you supplied documents with a container which showed its weight to be such that, when curried on a 38-tonne artic, that weight would be exceeded, you would run the risk of being prosecuted for 'permitting'. Presumably you were in a position to prevent the vehicle leaving your premises with that container.
To 'cause' an overloading offence requires some positive action, such as instructing the driver to take the vehicle on the road when knowing it was overloaded.
It is also an offence to aid and abet another person's offence, but, there too, the prosecution would have to prove you had knowledge of the facts constituting the principal offence.