Ferry time unrecorded
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• A Wrcastershire international haulier, his company and 16 drivers are contesting allegations that they breached the hours and tachograph rules on runs to and from the Continent.
The drivers are accused of failing to record time spent on ferries, of driving excessive hours and of taking insufficient breaks and rest. Blessgold, trading as MJM Freight Services, of Redditch, and its director Roger Marriott, are accused of permitting the alleged offences.
The defence maintains that time spent on the ferry need not be recorded because the vehicles were driven on and off the ferries by dock staff. DOT traffic examiner Dominic Green told Redditch Magistrates that when some of the drivers were asked who drove the vehicles on and off the ferries, and who had instructed them to remove the charts from their tachographs at the port, they made no comment. Some denied driving on and off the ferry; others said dock staff had driven the vehicles on and off.
If drivers interrupted their rest periods to drive vehicles on and off the boat they had to extend their rest by two hours, said Green. Truckline Ferries UK sales manager Stephen Lonsdale said the company had no arrangement with MJIVI Freight to drive their vehicles on and off ferries.
The magistrates adjourned the case until the end of November.