Heavy fines for Hull hauliers
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FINES and costs totalling nearly £8,000 were imposed on two large road haulage firms, five one-man businesses and 26 drivers, after they had pleaded guilty to 522 offences under the Transport Act 1968, before the Hull Stipendiary Magistrate last week.
Link Road Transport Ltd, Silver Street, Hull, and Wilkinson Bros Fish Transport Ltd, St Andrews Dock, Hull, admitted merging their road haulage operations without 0licence authorisation; also aiding and abetting the five other firms to operate without licences. Fines and costs totalling £6,360 were imposed on 288 of the 350 charges involved.
Mr M. Paterson, prosecuting for the Yorkshire LA, said that the firms had operated under separate 0 licences for several years. Their premises were practically next door to one another and many facilities were shared. When a decision was taken to merge their operations the licences lapsed as it was not lawful to operate jo:.ntly under separate licences.
Mr Paterson said it was a plan "genuine and brilliant in its simplicity." Link Road Transport held a licence authorising 54 vehicles with 43 specified, and Wilkinson one for 36 vehicles with 16 specified, giving margins of 11 and 20 vehicles respectively. If one of the companies had lost its licence operations could have continued under the other.
Mr A. Iveson, for the defendants, denied that there was any "sinister Machiavellian plot to deceive anyone." His clients regretted the slackness which had given rise to the offences, but matters had since been put right and all the vehicles now operated under the one licence of Link Road Transport.
Five drivers who had been helped to form new companies to start up on their own, Mr Harry Gould of Bromden Ltd, Mr E. T. Weavers of Nipstone Ltd, Mr Stanley Hunter of Joinell Ltd, Mr Peter Hall of Jobavon Ltd, and Mr Brian Eggars of L. and E. Transport, pleaded guilty to operating without licences when using vehicles hired from Link Road Transport and Wilkinson. Fines and costs totalling £850 were imposed.
There were also guilty pleas from the companies and the remaining drivers concerning failure to keep proper log sheets for both internal and international transport.