News

Hargreaves (UK) Services escaped with a formal warning over drivers' hours and speeding offences at its Hull waste division after North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney said he was impressed by efforts made to rectify issues. The Durham-based firm, which holds a licence for 251 vehicles and 177 trailers, had been called before the TC at a Castleford public inquiry.

Traffic examiner Stuart Holmes said that an investigation commenced at the Wilmington Transfer Station, Hull,  after anonymous complaints about the company's vehicles speeding. Analysis of tachograph records and other documents highlighted excessive speeding, as well as 336 instances when times on the duty sheet were longer than on the records. There were also 34 drivers' hours offences and 104 occasions when the tachograph record was withdrawn when it should not have been.

Brian Barnes, operations director of Hargreaves' waste division, said that immediate action was taken against the drivers concerned. A new system was introduced in September 2007, including a log of the issue and return of tachograph charts, a work activity summary and random weekly checks on charts.

Full driver training was being undertaken and drivers had been briefed about company expectations. Drivers now had to sign a speeding declaration. He added they had yet to receive a complaint about speeding from the public or customers and that "the new systems involved a considerable investment at a time of rising  costs". The TC said that things were clearly going wrong, but very sound remedial action had been taken to put things right.