Hours excess costs 1275
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MPermitting three drivers to breach the 4½hour driving rule has cost Saltash food wholesaler Appleby Westward £275 in fines and costs. The company admitted five offences when it appeared before South East Cornwall Magistrates.
David Broom, prosecuting, said the offences came to light following an analysis of the company's tachograph charts by DOT traffic examiners. When interviewed, the firm's transport manager had said that it appeared that its system for checking tachograph records was not as foolproof as had been thought. The system had been improved and the breaches would not recur.
Defending, Tony Daniel said the company operated a sophisticated computerised system for scheduling delivery routes but it could not guard against individual drivers breaking the law. The firm operated 20 vehicles doing about 5,000 journeys a year. Only five charts out of the 800-1,000 checked covering a 10-month period were open to criticism.