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BETTER LATE THAN JAILED
Page 9
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This week Mr X has penned an open letter to all users of hire-andreward road transport...
Last week, a haulier from Kent was jailed for seven years. While that in itself is not too unusual, the reason for the prosecution was. This fellow was jailed for conspiring with his drivers to falsify tachographs. Unfortunately, the offences only came to light when a serious accident occurred, killing an innocent third party. The court blamed the driver for being overtired.
For once, the severity of the conviction goes some way to matching the crime. But how often do we see hours offences being dealt with so severely? This is only the third prosecution of its kind that I can remember, but I'm crossing my fingers that it will act as a wake-up call about the industry's responsibilities. It's these that I want to dwell on.
All of us involved in road haulage know that the 0-licence holder is the first to be carted away when something has gone wrong. That's why we have qualified transport managers to ensure compliance with the complex laws that govern us. Most responsible operators have nothing much to fear, providing the TM does his job — but lurking behind the comfortable facade of nodding compliance is the devil incarnate in the guise of commercial pressure. When that is applied, common sense and compliance go straight out the window!
Next time a customer threatens to take his business elsewhere, or imposes some swingeing penalty on you for failing to deliver on time, think of the jail sentence awarded to those operators in Kent. Think of the possible consequences of putting your drivers under pressure to make that delivery "just this once". A stretch inside is not worth it. More importantly, an innocent person's life is not worth it.
We have to take a stand on this subject. Timed deliveries are a cancer spreading throughout the logistics world. The only cure is more flexibility in delivery times, and I encourage all of you taking the trouble to read this article to make this a discussion topic with your customers for the new year. Given the advent of the Working Time Directive there is no better time to bring the tricky subject of corporate responsibility to the attention of our clients before someone else is killed on their behalf. "Unfortunately the offences only came to light when a serious aaident °owed, killing an innocent third party"