achograph rule may cut anger-load carriers
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:M reporter
LIT-BACK in the :r of hauliers preto handle small eonmts of dangerous may result from traph legislation due 'me into force on ry 1, 1976. The law that all new goods over 31/4 tons gross be fitted with the -recording devices that date and that all carrying dangerous must also have tacho;.
il now the position of rs carrying part-load nments of dangerous has been unclear. igations by CM this week show, however, that hauliers who currently carry these materials are faced with a sharp choice: fit tachcigraphs or stop handling the traffic. At present, to comply with existing legislation, they have to display warning signs, costing approximately 25p. Next year they will need a tachograph, approximate cost (fitted) £200.
The position of specialist bulk carriers of dangerous loads is more clear. They will automatically need to fit tachographs and most are designed to doing so. Many general hauliers are still undecided, though some might try to handle the traffic by using new vehicles fitted as original equipment with tachographs. Other operators have indicated to CM that they will pull out of this traffic rather than face the cost of fitting tachographs to enough vehicles to offer them flexibility of scheduling.
The DoE told CM that the definition of "dangerous goods" will be the same as at present. Thus, they will be defined as meaning the substances for which Home Office regulations dealing with operation of vehicles have been introduced under: The Explosives Act 1875, The Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928: the Radio Active Substances Act 1948 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Most of these regulations — copies of which are obtainable from the Home Office permit a quantity of the material to be carried without the operator having to comply with the regulations. At most, these exemptions permit weights up to 500 kg (11001b) to be handled, though some limits are far less. A simple guide to operators now handling danger-loads is: no stickers, no tachographs.