P&O acts following chart check by Sally Nash • P&O
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Trans European at Hull has tightened up its procedures for recording and checking drivers' hours after the local Traffic Area Office took away a year's worth of tachograph charts for examination.
The move follows hours infringements by one of the company's drivers who has since been sacked. The driver then complained to P&O's management, alleging that the whole company was committing hours' offences. He is also believed to have approached the Traffic Area Office, which ordered the check. It is understood that the final batch of charts has now been returned to P&O and that no further action is planned against the company, although one or two drivers may be interviewed.
A spokes man for P&O admits that the management at Hull did discover one or two discrepancies when it looked at its tachograph procedures at the depot, and "tightened the whole thing up".
E A ballot for industrial action is still going ahead at P&O Trans European's Grangemouth operation where drivers are resisting proposed contract changes which could lead to pay cuts of up to £120 a week. The ballot is scheduled for 27 April, says Transport & General Workers Union officer John Elliot, despite P&O's latest offer of oneoff £700 payments.
P&O could also face problems in Hull, where the company is proposing a pay rise of "about 2% at a stretch, which is not worth looking at", according to T&G officer George Douse.
Drivers at other Trans European depots could also face cuts, although it is not yet clear where the axe is falling. Robert Tooze, who is in charge of pay negotiations at P&O Trans European, declines to make any comment on their progress to outside parties.
Operating profit at P&O Trans European fell 40% to £8.1m last year, despite a good second half. The group is now looking at pay and productivity in parts of the company throughout the country.