Test weight appeal
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Peterborough Heavy Haulage and two of its drivers are con sidering an appeal against fines totalling £1,400 for overloading offences. .
These were committed when test weights being carried were found to weigh more than they were supposed to.
The company and drivers Carl Ripon and Michael Seaton admitted before Exter magistrates to exceeding the train weight and compensating axle weights on the trailers of the two articulated outfits.
The court heard that when the vehicles had been check weighed at Kennford, the outfit driven by Ripon had exceeded its permit ted train weight by 1,070kg (2.81%) and the compensating axles had been 1,690kg over (8.98%). The train weight of the vehicle driven by Seaton had been one tonne more than that permitted and the compensating axles were overloaded by 1,200kg.
Defending, Jonathan Lawton said both vehicles were carrying test weights which had been tendered to the company as being loads for two vehicles totalling 50 tonnes. The weights were owned by a well-known crane hire company and there were no circumstances in which anyone would have anticipated that the test weights were inaccurate. Had they been correct, no offences would have been committed. However, instead of weighing 50,000kg the weights had weighed 53,300kg.
However high the duty of care to avoid overloading, no-one could have anticipated that these vehicles were overloaded, said Lawton. There was no possibility of finding that blame attached to either the company or the drivers, and in such circumstances the High Court had laid down that an absolute discharge was appropriate.
The magistrates tined the company £500 on each of the train weight offences and the drivers £200, with no separate penalty in respect of the axle overloading offences.