322 offences in two

23rd September 1966, Page 77

23rd September 1966

Page 77

Page 77, 23rd September 1966 — 322 offences in two

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months it must be a record, says haulier.

NEast Grinstead Magistrates Court on Monday D. Heron (Transport) Ltd., and Mr. D. C. Heron were fined a total of £170 plus costs in connection with offences under section 168 of the 1960 Act. In all there were 322 offences condensed into 26 summonses.

The firms of D. C. Heron and D. Heron (Transport) Ltd. are operated jointly by Mr. D. C. Heron under Contract A, B and C licences. There are 30 vehicles in the joint fleet.

In 1965 the Metropolitan LA instructed his examiner to institute an inquiry into an allegation of breach of conditions of licence by the companies. The examiner was unable to proceed with the inquiry immediately as records were not available. When the records were produced they covered the period November to December 1965. According to Mr. B. Walter, who represented the Ministry, the records appeared to have been compiled after the examiner's visit and not by drivers during the period of operation.

The production of the records indicated that there had been breaches of the conditions of the licences held by the companies. The schedule prepared by the Ministry examiner contained 322 discrepancies in the twomonth period. Mr. Walter told the magistrates that as a result of these breaches of conditions of licence the company had earned thousands of pounds to which it was not entitled.

"When Mr. Heron was told of the number of discrepancies he said `It must be a record" ", said Mr. Walter. A request by the LA tointerview Mr. Heron's drivers was refused according to Mr. Walter but this was later denied by Mr. Heron's counsel.

Mr. Walter told the magistrates that the breaches of conditions included the use of Contract A licences for customers not included in the contract. This appeared to be the haulier's method of utilizing spare capacity during the winter months. Vehicles which were on licence to Reigate Concrete Co. Ltd., were being used to run solid fuel from a colliery in South Wales to Ipswich and London on behalf of a Gas Board. Mr. Heron, who pleaded guilty to all of the charges had been convicted in 1961 on charges under section 164(1XA) of the Act.

On behalf of his client, Mr. M. Pringle told the magistrates that he had employed a young and well-trained transport manager who was, however, inexperienced. Later Mr. Pringle told the court that this man who had in fact been a shipping clerk had now been dismissed. To ensure that he had full control of the business Mr. Heron had reduced his fleet to 20 vehicles, he was actively engaged in a maintenance programme and checked the drivers' record sheets each evening.

The breach of conditions need never have happened according to Mr. Pringle as there were properly licensed vehicles to carry out the work on the days the offences took place. The fact that the wrong vehicles had been sent was due to the inexperience of the transport manager.

There were 18 charges against the company and the magistrates imposed a fine of £5 on each charge. On the eight charges against Mr. Heron they imposed a fine of £10 per charge. In addition to the fines the magistrates awarded costs to the Ministry totalling £107 14s.6d.