Drivers blamed for offences • Disgruntled drivers were accused of
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committing offences to get their employers into trouble when Bathgate-based MRS (Distribution) appeared before Scottish Deputy Traffic Commissioner Richard McFarlane.
The company was called to an Edinburgh disciplinary inquiry over an alleged failure to ensure the tachograph regulations were followed (CM 9-15 April). The company has a licence for 116 vehicles and 159 trailers.
Managing director William Scott said he was concerned that such allegations could damage the company's reputation. He felt the company had proper systems in place to detect breaches.
Disciplinary action had been taken against drivers convicted of offences, he added. If drivers were found falsifying charts or interfering with speed limiters they were dismissed instantly.
The company held a contract with the Freight Transport Association for tacho chart analysis: Scott said the company complied with its undertakings as closely as it could.
Asked to explain 27 convictions against the company and its drivers since a public inquiry in 1996, Scott said some disgruntled drivers, for reasons best known to themselves, did things they felt would damage the company.
The Deputy TC said he had gained an impression from MRS drivers who had appeared before him that there was some unhappiness over pay.
Maintaining that the company's pay system was fair, Scott said quite a number of drivers had returned to the company in the past four to five months, which must be a good sign.
General manager Donald Carmichael said the contentious part of the pay system was that drivers could not cheat it. If they took 15 hours to drive to London they would not get paid for 15 hours. They only allocated work that could be done within the drivers' hours limits. He maintained that neither the company nor the drivers had benefited from offences committed by drivers.
For the company, Michael Whiteford said it employed 120 drivers and there would always be one or two with a grievance. He said the company had no tachograph convictions recorded against it: out of 4,000 charts checked by traffic examiners, only eight convictions were recorded against six drivers.
Taking no action other than to issue a warning, McFarlane said the company appeared to have proper systems in place, and when offences came to their notice appropriate action was taken.