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Disreputable deal
Page 31
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Allegations of pressure on a driver are to be passed to Irish enforcement authorities.
ALLEGATIONS MADE by a driver about his Carrickfergus employer after he was caught falsifying his tachograph records are to be drawn to the attention of the Northern Irish enforcement authorities by North Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell.
Richard Jones, of Gordon Road, Fleetwood, had been called before the TC at a Lancaster public inquiry.
The TC referred to a traffic examiner's report on a vehicle owned by AN Transport Services and driven by Jones which had been stopped in a check on the Isle of AngleseyAn examination of Jones' tachograph records showed 1,344km went unrecorded on a chart dated 3 September.
The chart appeared to show that the vehicle was stationary at Rugby for 24hr 40min when the actual time spent at Rugby was just 40min.
Jones was subsequently fined £750 with 1150 costs for falsifying a chart, exceeding the daily driving limit, failing to produce a tachograph chart, and two offences of exceeding 41/2 hours' driving without the required break.
When interviewed,Jones had said the vehicle needed to he back in Holyhead and his employers had told him not to worry about getting caught, as they would pay the fine.
Jones said he had initially refused but the company pressured him. He had pointed out he could not do the journeys legally in the time given; he was sorry that he capitulated to pressure and falsified the chart. It was his idea to falsify the chart as his employer had said: "I'm sure you will find away of doing it. Jones told the TC he only knew the first name of the person concerned, which was Ryan.
Suspending Jones' LGV driving licence for six weeks, the TC said his shady agreement with his employer brought him and his profession into disrepute.
If drivers falsified tachograph records with the intent of hiding the extent of their driving and duty time from the authorities they must understand there were serious consequences, Bell added. There had been a number of cases where drivers had received prison sentences for falsifying tachograph records, and these sentences had subsequently been upheld by the Court of Appeal.