VI takes tack' charts from Eddie Stobart
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III Vehicle Inspectorate officials have seized tachograph records from Eddie Stobart after claims that moonlighting fire-fighters who worked as truck drivers were left too tired for duty.
Records were taken from the haulier's Kingstown depot in Carlisle after disgruntled regular Stobart drivers complained to Cumbrian fire chiefs.
The Brigade is carrying out its own inquiry but insists the issue is internal and has declined to comment further.
Eddie Stobart has confirmed that three fire-fighters did work for the firm as casual drivers but says they all took proper rests and that no laws were broken.
In a letter to Cumbria's Fire Service HQ in Cockermouth. regular Stobart drivers alleged that the firemen undertook regular longhaul journeys during four-day Fire Service rest periods (CM 10-16 Aug). A spokeswoman for the Vehicle Inspectorate says: The matter is under investigation. We will examine the records as quickly as we can but will take this matter one stage at a time."
No significance should be attached to the examination of driving records, she said, adding: This is something we do a lot of the time."
Drivers at Stobart's Kingstown depot in Carlisle said the three fire-fighters, who are contractually barred from working for another employer, have not worked for the company since the Fire Service launched its inquiry last month.
"We've a lot more people who support us than are against us," says one of the company's regular drivers. "The lads have been saying that It was about time something was done. I've heard that one of these lads was earning an extra 112,000 a year" Eddie Stobart says all three fire-fighters had sufficient time off before doing a shift, adding that the Fire Service has not raised any concerns.