Contracts save Parkload
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caAberdare-based Parkload came "within a whisker" of having its licence suspended for a week at a Cardiff disciplinary inquiry. South Wales Deputy Traffic Commissioner Alan Bouriet only decided against a suspension order after hearing that it would cost the company its prime contracts.
Parkload, which holds a licence for two vehicles and three trailers, was called before the Deputy TC after its tachograph records revealed a total of 1,834km unaccounted for.
The Deputy IC was told that when one of the company's vehicles was inspected by a vehicle examiner in May it was given an immediate prohibition after a hairline fracture was found in the trailer's swan neck.
Traffic examiner Sian Thomas said she discovered the missing distance when she checked tachograph records at the request of the IC following a previous public inquiry in March. She had also discovered two drivers' hours offences. The driver concerned said he had some serious medical concerns about his child and had felt he had to get home quickly. She had reported the matter but to date no decision had been taken about a prosecution.
For Parkload, Chris Childs said the tacho charts had been destroyed in error after the company's offices were renovated. The charts were transferred from a clip on the wall to boxes during the work. There were documents eight to 10 years old stored with the charts which the directors decided to destroy, and it seemed the charts were with them. Transport manager Thomas Watkins said he carried out random checks on the tachograph charts and the driver who had committed the hours offences had been warned.
Commenting that he had strongly considered suspending the licence for a week, the Deputy IC called for a full fleet inspection and a check on the company's tachograph records within the next six months.