Taymix drivers' hours public inquiry continues
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roger.browrerbi.co.uk A PUBLIC INQUIRY has heard how drivers at a Dorset haulage firm committed a string of tachograph offences, despite them making complaints about being overworked.
At the hearing in Bristol, (which started on Monday 1 February). conducted by Western Traffic Commissioner Sarah Bell, details were revealed about the police investigation into related firms Translact and parent Taymix Transport during 2007 following a fatal road accident (see box).
At the inquiry, comparisons between tacho records and timesheets were made. For example, in one instance, a tacho chart showed that a driver had worked a shift of 13 hours and 10 minutes.
However, the timesheet for the same working period recorded the shift had, in fact, been 19 hours.
Felicity Hine, for VOSA, said many drivers had complained about "overwork and over-tiredness',' but believed the firm to have been "unsympathetic" to their concerns.
The company had been involved in the practice of "winding the clock back" to cut the time recorded on tacho charts, and there had been "numerous examples" where drivers had worked excessively long hours. She also said: "The system was haphazard." However, Ken Dennis, who has worked at the company for 20 years, told the hearing that the company always allowed drivers "plenty of rest'' including regular 45-minute daily break periods, as well as weekly rest breaks.
Under questioning from Chris Over, for the companies. Dennis admitted there had been times where he had removed the tacho card when he should not have done. He said this was not the result of pressure to do so from the company, but was "bad habits" he had picked up.
The public inquiry was also told how an interruption in a tacho recording could have been the result of an "electrical fault".
Over asked PC Mark Morrison from Wiltshire Police, who conducted an investigation into drivers' hours offences at the company, how many of the 37 incidents where a tacho reading had stopped could have been the result of drivers merely looking to check the device, as opposed to so-called "fuse pulling".
PC Morrison said: "None. A line shows on the tacho reading, which indicates power interruption."
Over added that according to driver statements, proper hours infringement reports had been prepared by the firm and brought to the drivers' attention.
As CM closed for press, the inquiry was due to last another day.