Employer wins hours case
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Wyke-based Andrew Leadbeater has been cleared of allowing one of his drivers to exceed the daily driving limit and take insufficient daily rest.
Leadbeater, who trades as Leadbeater Transport, was found not guilty at West Riding Magistrates' Court on three charges of permitting Glen Broadley to drive excessive hours and on one of allowing him to take insufficient daily rest.
Richard Wadkin, prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, said the House of Lords had ruled that the basic test was whether the employer had failed to take the steps that a reasonable employer would have done to prevent drivers contravening the hours and tachograph rules. He argued that, although Leadbeater sent his charts for analysis by an outside agency each month, he should have done more to check Broadley's capability his knowledge and whether he was complying with the law, because he was a relatively new driver.
Traffic examiner Nigel Pollard said Broadley had told him that he had not realised that he had been breaking the law as he was new to long-distance lorry driving. Leadbeater had said that as Broadley had been with him for only two weeks the charts had not been checked. If they had been, the offences would have been brought to his attention.
Pollard agreed with Ben MacKenzie, defending, that, as a Class I driver, Broadley ought to have known the rules.
Leadbeater said Broadley had previously worked for chemical companies, both of which had their own driver training schemes, In those circumstances it seemed pointless to ask Broadley about his knowledge of the regulations. He had assumed he was competent as he had previously done hazchem work.
MacKenzie said Leadbeater had the tacho records checked periodically. It was a counsel of perfection to say he should have carried out additional checks on a 33-year-old driver with six years' experience, pointing out that au the offences had been committed over 13 days.
Leadbeater pleaded guilty to an offence of failing to produce tachograph records and Pollard told the court that when he analysed the records for November 19981,797km was missing.
The magistrates fined Leadbeater .2100 with £100 prosecution costs.