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Partners disqualified

21st April 2011, Page 18
21st April 2011
Page 18
Page 18, 21st April 2011 — Partners disqualified
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Keywords : Tachograph, Tachometer

after tacho falsification

Bosses found to have lost their repute after one helped a driver to falsify a tacho chart

By Roger Brown

NORTH WALES haulage irm G&R Transport has had its O-licence revoked after one of its bosses was convicted of helping a driver to falsify his tachograph chart.

In a written decision, following a February public inquiry at Flint Magistrates court, Welsh Deputy Trafic Commissioner (DTC) Miles Dorrington held that Gerald Bletcher had lost his repute as a transport manager at the Moldbased irm, and disqualiied him from holding an O-licence for six months from 23 April The DTC also disqualiied business partner Robert Bletcher for three months from the same date, and said the pair had lost their repute.

In June 2010, four drivers were convicted at Wrexham Magistrates Court of 30 offences of knowingly making a false tachograph record.

Bletcher was also convicted of aiding and abetting in the falsiication of a tacho record of one of the drivers.

A report from a VOSA trafic examiner in September 2010 analysed 606 tachograph records at the irm – which was authorised for four vehicles and four trailers.

It discovered a series of infringements, including: ● 31 false records; ● 235 incidents of failing to use a record; ● 37 insuficient daily rests; ● 25 occasions of exceeding 10 hours of driving; ● three occasions of exceeding 4.5 hours of driving; ● 36 unauthorised withdrawals of the tachograph record; ● four instances of insuficient chart details; ● 16 instances of failure to use or failure to produce tachographs; ● seven insuficient weekly rests; ● 426 mode switch offences; ● 45,557 missing kilometres.

Bletcher told the DTC that “everything” had changed at the irm following the trafic examiner’s investigation.

He had taken on an external tachograph analyst who produced infringement reports, which were then brought to the attention of the relevant driver and signed.

Tachograph analysis has since been taken back in house.

However, the DTC said: “Gerald Bletcher was convicted of the most serious type of tachograph falsiication by actively helping a driver employed by the partnership to falsify his tachograph chart.

“The failure of both partners to ensure compliance right up to the public inquiry has caused me considerable concern.”


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