Licences suspendel
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Hauliers have to grin and bear the present eco nomic climate and operate within the law or give up—operating outside the law is not an option.
This was made plain by Welsh Traffic Commissioner David Dixon after solicitors representing a number of North Wales tipper owner-drivers had blamed heavy pressure due to a lack of proper financial returns for their convictions for falsifying tachograph records.
Traffic examiner Geoffrey Whitley told the TC that the tachograph records produced had been worthless as it was impossible to see accurately what the drivers had been doing. He pointed out that 40% of the hauliers visited as part of the probe into activities at North Wales quarries had been found to be offending.
The TC said that while he had the power to revoke the licences of those concerned, he was proposing to give them a second chance.
• Robert Bryn Roberts. a partner in Rb&Jm Roberts, of Corwen, had been fined £960 for 26 offences of falsification after running with the tachograph head open and scribing traces on the tachograph charts with a pin.
• Kevin Jones, of Mold, had been fined £2,200 on 21 offences of "fuse pulling". For Jones, Nic Parry said he had heard of this practice on the grapevine. Jones had acted under pressure in order to save time to get another load in. Both his 0-licence and LGV licence were suspended for three weeks.
• Ian Bailey, a partner in CR Bailey & Sons, of Wrexham, was fined £1,800 for 18 offences of fuse pulling. Two of his four vehicles were suspended for the month of January and his LGV licence for two weeks.
• His father, Cyril Bailey, of Burton Rossett, near Wrexham, was fined 13,000 for 21 offences of running without a chart in his tachograph. His licence was cut from three vehicles to two and his WV licence was suspended for a week.
• Northop-based Emlyn Houston, a partner in EE Houston &, Sons, had been £2,000 for 24 offences of pulling. One of the two vet on the firm's licence was pended for four weeks Houston's WV licence was pended for two weeks.
• Wrexham-based Mu Roberts had been fined If for nine offences of fuse pi Roberts said he had been u pressure at the time. One cle was suspended from his vehicle licence for January his LGV licence was suspe. for a week.
• Holywell-based Thc Corbett had been fined £,'; for eight fuse-pulling offer His 0-licence and LGV ho were suspended for two wi
• Edward Williams, Rhuddlan, was fined £5,001 25 offences of using an ii rupter. For Williams, who admitted installing the devi 1995, Steven kylis said word of the devices had sp like wildfire among hauliers.
Williams' 0-licence and driving licence were both pended for two weeks.