42 SCOTS FIRMS FINED FOR OVERLOADING
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ON more than 1,400 occasions, lorries which had just left Grangemouth Docks after loading up with bauxite were found to be overweight. As a result, 42 haulage contracting firms from Fife, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirlingshire, West Lothian, Lanarkshire and Perthshire, were last week fined a total of £326 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
The firms pleaded guilty after hearing the decision in a test case involving Walker Brothers (Cowdenbeath) Ltd. (CommEnam, MOTOR, April 7), who were found guilty of using overloaded lorries on 486 occasions and fined £100.
It was pointed out that last year's dock strike was partly to blame for the offences. In a number of cases the firms were sub-contractors, not engaged directly by Walker Bros., the principal contractors. The offences were not connived at by the owners for financial gain.
Walker Bros. were fined a further £75 when they admitted 247 additional offences. William McLucas and Sons admitted 152 offences and were fined £50, and fines ranging from 15s. to £23 were imposed on the other firms.