News

Vosa is more rigorously checking trucks using the Port of Holyhead than those at any other port in the country, say officials at the Welsh port. Port operations manager Captain Wyn Parry says the checks at the weighbridge just outside the port are so zealous that some hauliers have said they will use other ports instead. He adds that the problem is not that operators mind the checks in themselves, but that they cause delays of up to 30 minutes as trucks queue to be checked.

"We are 100%  behind road safety, but there has to be a level playing field," he says. "If hauliers know there are other ports where they are less likely to encounter the delays associated with checks, they will go to other ports." Parry says some hauliers that dislike the delays caused by Vosa's Anglesey weighbridge at Dalar Hir, near Holyhead, are reluctant to raise the issue publicly for fear of falling out with the agency. But Mark Cunnew, group managing director of local company Gwynedd Shipping, says he has no problem at all with the weighbridge.

"We pass through this weighbridge all the time and the delays aren't that big and they are fair enough. If you cheat, you are going to get caught." However Vosa says enforcement activities at Dalar Hir found a very high drivers' hours offence rate of 30.4% and a trailer roadworthiness prohibition rate of 60.8% in the past six months - figures that are of "significant concern".

A spokesman adds: "We are unaware of any evidence that shows  that our enforcement activities at Dalar Hir have resulted in traffic seeking to use alternative ports." The Road Haulage Association says the police and Vosa are 'simply doing their job' in cracking down on hauliers that break weight regulations or drivers' hours rules.