Tacho offences cost drivers £775
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• Two drivers from Ashbournebased Midland Freight have been ordered to pay £775 in fines and costs by Rochdale magistrates for drivers' hours and tachograph offences. Charges against the company and four other drivers have been adjourned until April.
John Lakin of Nottingham admitted three offences of falsifying a tachograph chart, four offences of exceeding the daily driving limit and one offence of driving for 41 hours without taking the required break. Michael Moffatt of Derby admitted four offences of driving for 41 hours without taking the required break, and one offence of exceeding the daily limit.
Prosecuting, Peter Cave said the offences came to light when a police officer stopped Lakin and found a discrepancy between the odometer reading and the distance trace on one of his tachograph charts. Charts later seized from the company revealed "numerous" offences.
In evidence Lakin said that all the offences had taken place during his first month of employment with Midland Freight. Long-distance work was completely new to him.
Moffatt said that he had misunderstood the 41-hour regulation and this had led to the offences being committed.
The magistrates fined Lakin £475 and Moffat £250 with E25 costs apiece.