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156 
Tad° trail leads to suspension
Page 16
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Drivers' hours and tachograph offences have led to the licence held by Ely-based Racehorse Transport being suspended for a fortnight.
The company, which holds an international licence for 10 vehicles, had been called before the Eastern Traffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms at a Cambridge disciplinary inquiry. In May 2000 the company, in its previous form as a partnership between James and Jennifer Ratcliffe, appeared at a public inquiry because of a large number of missing tachograph charts totalling some 10,000km.
Traffic Examiner Bernadette Williams said that a check on the company's tachograph records in July and August 2000 revealed 21 instances of missing mileage totalling just over 5,000km, and there were also a number of drivers' hours offences. Two drivers were subsequently prosecuted for taking insufficient weekly rest and one for taking insufficient daily rest. The company was prosecuted for permitting the drivers' offences and for failing to produce tachograph records.
Managing director James Ratcliffe said
that following the previous public Inquiry the then traffic manager had been replaced and the company had introduced new systems. However, it had taken eight or nine weeks to get these up and running and it was during that period the offences were committed.
An extra four drivers had been hired to cover the period when racing took place seven days a week. Since the traffic examiners visit, their horseboxes had been checked on 31 occasions without any prob lems, said Ratcliffe.
In reply to Simms, Ratcliffe said that h had dismissed two drivers for drivem hours irregularities four months ago. H blamed the expansion to all-week racin for the problems, with trainers wantin early starts and late finishes.
Suspending the licence, the TO sal that the company had retained it repute—but only just.