Firm and drivers fined £610
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• Fines and costs totalling £641.50 were imposed on West Midland haulier F. and D. Burton Ltd and 13 of its drivers when they faced charges in connection with breaches of the drivers' hours and records regulations before the Cannock, Staffordshire, magistrates this week.
The Brigtown, Cannock, company was found guilty on 74 charges of failing to cause current records to be kept and of permitting drivers to exceed the regulation driving and duty time. It was fined a total of £362 and ordered to pay £31.50 costs.
The magistrates dismissed 34 charges against the drivers of making a false entry in a driver's record but found them guilty on a total of 26 charges of failing to keep current records and 34 charges of exceeding the permitted hours of driving and duty time. The drivers were fined a total of £248.
Evidence was given by a DoE traffic examiner, Mr. E. A. Smith, that in October he obtained drivers' records and clock cards for the month of August from the defendant company. On the face of it with one exception there was nothing wrong with the records. However, when they were compared with the clock cards it was found that on a number of occasions the times did not tie up at all. The clock cards revealed that drivers had spent excessive hours on duty on a number of days.
Questioned by Mr Norman Carless, defending, Mr Smith said he had no recollection of the drivers stating they were allowed "extra time" for such things as Sunday working and finding overnight accommodation. He agreed that a number of the clock cards had finishing times entered in manuscript.
Mr Barry Pountain, a driver, of Victoria St, Broomhill, Cannock, said he had worked for Burton for three years. Cross-examined by Mr Peter Wiseman, prosecuting for the W. Midland LA, Mr Pountain said if it took him half an hour to find digs after parking at night, he was paid for this time and it was added to the clock card.
In reply to Mr Wiseman, Mr D. R. Burton, a director, said he had not previously appreciated the difference between "driving" and "duty" time. Bonuses and allowances had been added to the clock cards to simplify the accounting.
Mr Carless submitted that the defendants had mistakenly thought that what they were doing was quite in order. What the magistrates had to decide was whether the drivers actually knew they were making false entries.