Absolute discharge awarded
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• Ross-on-Wye magistrates have given TD Williams (Brynamman) an absolute discharge, after it admitted to a train weight overload. The company pleaded guilty to overloading a 32-tonne artic by 2,510kg (7.7%).
For Williams, Christopher Charlesworth said that the driver had been instructed to pick up a load of kerbstones. The vehicle had a payload of 20 tonnes and the customer's delivery note clearly showed the weight of the kerb stones as 22.5 tonnes.
David Price, the company's operations man ager, said that its drivers were specifically instructed not to overload.
When drivers joined the company they attended an induction course during which he explained the problems of overloading. That was backed up by a booklet, given to all the company's drivers, which again emphasised the problems.
Drivers who breached the overloading rules were subject to a set disciplinary procedure and in this particular case the driver had been dismissed.
Arguing that the company was morally guiltless, and had not been negligent, Charlesworth said that it had taken all the steps that a reasonable haulier could take.