Licence curtailed for suspicious tacho wire
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Sandray Shellfish has had its licence temporarily curtailed after a suspicious wire was discovered on one of its trucks
)9 er.browniarbi.co.,uk
SANDRAY SHELLFISH has had its licence temporarily curtailed after a wire with the potential to disrupt the signal from the tachograph recording equipment to the speed limiter was discovered on one of its trucks.
In a written decision following a public inquiry in Edinburgh in August and October, Scottish Traffic Commissioner CFO Joan Aitken (left) said the Isle of Barrabased haulier would have its licence curtailed from eight vehicles to six for a period of 12 weeks from 31 October.
On 2 June last year. VOSA examiners carrying out a routine vehicle check, found the unauthorised wire spliced in to a legitimate green wire, which was providing a signal to the speed limiter from the tachograph recording equipment.
The presence of the rogue wire meant the signal to the speed limiter was able to be disrupted, and the vehicle could increase its speed without detection. On 20 May 2009, the vehicle's tacho had been given a clean bill of heath at a Scania workshop, which suggested the equipment had been interfered with in the two-week period leading to the VOSA check.
However, as not all tachograph charts had been returned by the drivers at that time, it was unclear who had fitted the wire, or even if it had been used to disguise vehicle speeds
The inquiry was told that since the discovery, a new transport manager at Sanclray has introduced better systems to analyse drivers' hours and tachograph charts and make sure proper maintenance records are kept.
The firm has also employed the Road Haulage Association to check its tachos on a monthly basis. However, Aitken said because of the discovery of the wire, the spotlight would "not move off" the operator.
She added: "This reveals one of the awful aspects of the fitting of any device and that is that honest drivers come under suspicion and also an operator's whole business comes under suspicion.
-The operator has not helped deflect suspicion by not having in place proper systems and proper records such that a clear picture could be found without difficulty as to who was driving what, when, where and what hours the drivers were working."