The Pryce is right
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• West Midlands Licensing Authority Ronald Jackson took no action against the licence of Telford-based H W Pryce & Son when the company appeared before him at disciplinary proceedings following a number of tachograph convictions.
Producing accounts and bank statements, managing director Harold Pryce said that implications about the company's finances in a letter from the Traffic Area were untrue.
Jackson said that sometimes statements were made in a magistrates court in the hope that fines would be reduced, but Pryce denied that anything had been said by the company's solicitors in regard to finance when the offences were dealt with by Telford magistrates.
Pryce said that he, as driver/director, had been convicted of failing to use a tachograph. He had evidence, however, that all the tachograph charts on the days concerned were used but not completed.
Jackson said that Pryce had been fined 100 for that, and 25 for failing to enter details on the chart.
Asked why, Pryce said it had been a human error and he would make sure it never happened again. He agreed that two of the company's drivers were fined for vArious offences and said that both were dismissed as a result.
Tachographs were now checked twice weekly, according to Pryce, although checks had previously been less frequent. Since the departure of the two drivers concerned, they had not found anything wrong with the charts whatsoever. The fact that the fleet was standardised on Volvos, showed that they were not "back-street boys".
Jackson said that the tachograph was a wonderful tool for the haulier, because the information it obtained from a chart was tremendous. Pryce replied that the company had discovered that drivers had been using their vehicles during overnight stops. That was why two had lost their jobs.
In view of the evidence, Jackson said he would make no direction against the company's 10-vehicle and 15trailer licence.