CM PG: driver compliance will help battle freight crime
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THE CENTRAL Motorway Police Group (CMPG) is urging hauliers to remain compliant so it can use its resources to fight freight crime. It says it has been shocked by some of the "mindless" actions of drivers, as well as a rise in hours offences.
Speaking exclusively to CM at CMPG's Birmingham headquarters, PC Angus Nairn and PC Steve Rounds say they have been shocked at sonic of the crimes they have seen truckers committing. which have been observed using a police-livened lorry (CM 12 November 2009). Offences include drivers watching DVDs and even cooking on a stove while driving.
"These are mindless and potentially catastrophic wrongdoings, but more commonly we see lots of drivers carrying out offences such as using a mobile [phone] or not wearing a seatbelt," Rounds says
In response to accusations that the unit is too quick to hand out graduated fixed penalties (CiFI3s). Rounds responds: "Believe me, if we never gave out another GFP again that would be great. It means we have done our job in ensuring good operator compliance and can therefore focus on going after the big criminals, such as thieves and drug smugglers."
However, according to Nairn (a former owner-driver) truckers are still continuing to flout the rules "We have seen an increase in drivers' hours offences There are operators who are always compliant, and those who are always non-compli ant, but it is the middle section which is swaying more than ever towards non-compliance because they are under pressure to make money and get work done quickly," he says.
Meanwhile, foreign drivers continue to be problematic, with Rounds estimating that during the first quarter of 2010, of all the nonUK-registered trucks checked, approximately 30% were caught using a magnet to fiddle their tacho.
Nairn adds: -We will continue to keep working hard. cracking down on those breaking the law, which will act as a deterrent and encourage drivers to shape up."
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