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LA cuts international haulier's fleet by three quarters

23rd March 1973, Page 20
23rd March 1973
Page 20
Page 20, 23rd March 1973 — LA cuts international haulier's fleet by three quarters
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Keywords : Trailer

Eastern LA's written decision on J. Wyatt Junior follows 12 overloading offences in 27 months

• The 30 articulated vehicle fleet of international haulage contractor J. Wyatt Junior, of Diss, Norfolk, is to be slashed by threequarters to seven tractive and seven trailers for 12 months. The written decision published this week by the Eastern LA, Mr H. E. Robson, follows a public inquiry under Section 69 earlier in the month.

In his decision the LA says the company had been convicted 12 times between April 1970 and December 1972 for overloading. All the offences, he says, were for significantly excessive overloads of between 10 and 30 per cent. The offences were committed between January 1970 and March 1972.

Eight of the convictions took place after a public inquiry in April 1971 when an undertaking was given by a director of the company that the practice which led to the vehicles being subject to overloading would be discontinued.

The LA refers to this practice and says the refrigerated containers fitted to trailers are built to the company's own specifications and are heavier than usual, commercially available, units. He concludes that this makes them susceptible to overloading if loaded to capacity.

Mr Robson says the company appears to have taken few steps to prevent overloading, drivers were not instructed to check weights and "he (the company) appears to have been willing over a long period deliberately to take the risk."

After warning

The LA says the company has persistently over a long time deliberately and after warning omitted to take effective steps to eliminate or reduce the risk of overloading.

The authorized licence for 30 vehicles and 30 trailers is curtailed by the margin of three vehicles and eight trailers. The licence is further reduced by removing 20 vehicles out of the 27 remaining and a total of 15 of the 22 trailers remaining for a period of 12 months. The direction is liable to suspension in the event of an appeal.

At the inquiry it was said that 75 per cent of the company's mileage was travelled in Ireland and Europe. The company always travelled within weight restrictions abroad and in the UK drivers were instructed not to overload.

On receiving written notice of the penalty Mr J. Wyatt, principal director of the company, hit out at the decision as "unreasonable and unjust" and one which struck at the very foundation of his company. Its future would now have to be considered very carefully, he said.

Mr Wyatt said his company had carried £30m of goods into Europe in the past 12 years where he had to compete with vehicles operating at higher permitted weights than was the case in the UK. His company built its own refrigerated containers on experience gained abroad.

Their heavier weight made them more stable on the road, easier to repair, and better able to withstand high seas when shipped, he said. He had long fought for the Continental 44 ton weight limit to be allowed in the UK and it was only a political situation which delayed its introduction.

When asked about the possibility of an appeal, Mr Wyatt said it would be considered but it could prove very difficult under present regulations. And the alternative? "If present attitudes continue," said Mr Wyatt, "they could close us down."

Mr Wyatt did not comment on a suggestion that the LA's penalty this time had taken into account a nominal penalty at the 1971 inquiry.

12 convictions

In his decision Mr Robson says he is taking into account all 12 convictions, of overloading because, he says, the full penalty he might have imposed at that time was reduced to a nominal one of suspending one vehicle for one month as he regarded the undertaking given to him at that time on behalf of the company to be evidence of genuine contrition.

Wyatt's main trade is carrying carcase meat from Ireland to American military bases in Germany and Italy. At the inquiry it was said that vehicles usually travelled overland across England unless there was a doubt about their weight, when they were shipped. Some of the overloading offences occurred when shipping was at a halt owing to bad weather and vehicles were sent by road.

Tags

People: Robson, J. Wyatt

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