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'Cavalier attitude' sinks boat haulier

3rd December 2009
Page 24
Page 24, 3rd December 2009 — 'Cavalier attitude' sinks boat haulier
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

DTC strips boat haulier of its 0-licence because female operator had lost control of her driver husband.

A BOAT HAULIER has lost its licence, and the husband and wife running the operation have been given separate penalties. The company blamed excessive hours on the difficulty of finding places to park abnormal loads.

The licence for Euroboat Transport, held by Van Adams, has been revoked, while Mrs Adams has been disqualified from holding an 0-licence indefinitely by Richard McFarlane, the Scottish Deputy Traffic Commissioner.

The DTC also revoked the HGV driving licence held by Mrs Adams' husband, Alistair, and disqualified him from holding a licence for three years.

Traffic examiner Nicola Hutchison told an Edinburgh public inquiry that, in March. the company's sole vehicle had been stopped while being driven by Alistair Adams.

The tachograph charts showed a number of offences. When the charts produced by Van i Adams were analysed, there were none for the period between 4 and 15 February 2008.

In total, 2,596km was unaccounted for. There were eight instances of centerfield omissions, seven instances of failing to take a sufficient break, four instances of railing to keep a record of work, and four instances of exceeding the daily driving limit.

Alistair Adams was convicted of making a false record at the thin Justice of the Peace Court and fined £50.

Adams said he had been teaching his son Andrew to drive the vehicle and how to fill in a chart. He confirmed that his son had completed some of the charts. Some charts had been handed to the police, which might have accounted for the missing ones.

The company's principal business activity was the transportation of luxury yachts and boats throughout Europe. Adams said he was unable to park the vehicle in service stations or at truck stops because of the abnormal loads that were carried. As a consequence, he had to exceed the drivers' hours limits. It was not possible to carry out the work within the rules. He was a unique case.

"There is no one else like me — I can't run to these regulations," said Adams. He added that there was no system in place to ensure compliance with the drivers' hours regulations, adding that there didn't need to be.

Van Adams said it was difficult to obtain charts from her husband.

The DTC said that it was clear the business was run by Alistair Adams, and that his attitude could only be described as "cavalier': The reality of the situation was that Vari Adams had no control whatsoever over her husband.


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