roadtransport.com/Articles/2 … evoked.htm
it’s been mentioned in Owners & Fleet Operators forum too 
Harry Monk:
chris_g:
Translact driver, Maciej Szcygiecki, was jailed for four years on a charge of dangerous driving after admitting driving for 16 hours without a break.Manslaughter charges against Rory and Robert Taylor collapsed in May 2009.
It would be interesting to know what is meant by “collapsed”. Possibly the CPS decided to play “shoot the driver” and let the actual perpetrators get off with it. For as long as this happens, unscrupulous bosses will continue to pressurise drivers to run bent.
And employ east european third rate ‘drivers’ who are prepared to drive for 16 hours without a break while British drivers can’t get a job.
And employ east european third rate ‘drivers’ who are prepared to drive for 16 hours without a break while British drivers can’t get a job.
[/quote]
Im not going to defend the driver,what did he was wrong and had terrible consequences, but who exactly are these British drivers who cant get jobs. They are probably the ones who know this PARIAH of a company and will not work for it.
As a result the company had to look elsewhere for drivers. The reason British drivers cannot get jobs is because companies like this one continue to operate in such a fashion.
If all the firms in the U.K. that flout the law were driven out of business, then all the ones that run a legal operation would benefit
By the way I know a lot of British drivers who still run bent, so try not to believe everything the media tells you about foreigners coming over here and taking our jobs.
The answer to foreign nationals working in the U.K. lies at lot closer to home, than third rate eastern european drivers as you put it.
No sympathy for the directors or the driver.
what is it with road transport and rules and regulations in this country ?
laws are not made up to be broken , they are there for a reason.
i have never known an industry like road haulage for law breaking and sometimes im ashamed to be involved in it .
hope this is a lesson for all the cowboy drivers and directors out there.
This has been a long time coming , have they only just come up on the TC radar? Have once worked for another haulage company who’s livery still is green and cream like Taymix tankers and doing whey and tallow tankers, use to come across Taymix drivers, in the days of logbooks and they were bend then so was the tanker firm from mid-devon that I drove for. Once had a Taymix tanker hit me from behind coming down through Chideock before the days of the by-pass. I was driving for Frank Tuckers then, the driver was ok but claimed his brakes wouldn’t stop him. Good ridings is what I say;
Carryfast:
And employ east european third rate ‘drivers’ who are prepared to drive for 16 hours without a break while British drivers can’t get a job.
Because of course, there has never been a case of a British driver running bent
Harry I agree with you, but you will hear that
is all ways the others no matter where you are we
get the same over here,in Germany,
The biggest mistake here is that they should have
put the directors and those other employers away
bars,Plus I hope to heaven that
they informed the transport dept,s at EU Brussels HQ
and also THE Belgian enforcement so that the firm gets
a visit there as well
Harry Monk:
Carryfast:
And employ east european third rate ‘drivers’ who are prepared to drive for 16 hours without a break while British drivers can’t get a job.Because of course, there has never been a case of a British driver running bent
Let’s all hope that no matter where the driver is from if he/she KILLS somebody whilst breaking the law the they will be dealt with and NEVER be aloud to hold a driving licence again
think this says it all
The police officer that led the investigation against Dorset haulage firm Translact has branded the operator “an appallingly run company”.
Its driver, Polish national Maciej Szcygiecki, had been working for 16 hours without a break and pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving. He was jailed for four years.
DCI Sean Memory said that following the crash some 39 drivers had been prosecuted for 1,700 tacho offences committed over a year.
The falsification of tachos at the firm was “widespread” he adds, pointing out that if police had chosen to prosecute the drivers for all the offences it found, the total would have been close to 10,000.
He adds: “It was absolutely endemic at the company, but that was business as usual for them.”
The WesternTC Sarah Bell has already dealt with 22 of the firm’s drivers, handing down a mixture of licence suspensions and revocations. The company will appear at a later date.
What is it with the “east european & pole bashing?”
As with “English” drivers working for UK firms, there are good & bad drivers among them.
I work with several “Polish & east european” drivers, who all work legally & legitimately along side me.
they do the job to the same standard as the rest of us.
The standard of foreign trucks & drivers running in the uk are another story …
good luck to you if you’re happy enough working alongside your east european work ‘mates’ ,always found them quick learners,‘good at picking things up’ you might say?..usually British jobs and wages I’ve found?
A sad story, people lost their lives - its true theres no room for the kind of drivers who do that.
Come on fellas, stop the Pole and Eastern European bashing.
I employ over 40 Poles - most of them for almost six years now, and pay them the same as my
UK drivers, all of whom have been with me much longer.
The Poles were taken on at a time when although paying in excess of an average wage, and although having
a complete fleet of new, biggest cab and biggest engine trucks, I couldn’t find reliable UK drivers - most of whom
wanted to work Mon - Thurs only, dictate terms and act as if they were owner drivers.
I have run my company for over 35 years and said then that as soon as we had hard times, the UK workforce
would react with the @foreigners are taking our jobs crap.
UK drivers still need to realise its tough out there and us hauliers have a tough time complying with the
regulations and finding the right kind of work to make it pay - its not a playground so work had to keep
your job or see it disappear - if not to foreign drivers driving UK motors then to foreign based trucks.
There are, of course, hell of a lot of proper UK drivers, most of whom are a credit to their firms, but
a lot of moaners, dreamers, and malingerers.
Now I’ve stuck my head in the noose, I suppose you’ll let me have it
K
the nationality of the driver shouldn’t be the question he made his choice, killed 2 people and deserves jail.
the company directors should also face jail for corporate manslaughter since they are responsible for what their employees do. we’re all better of with these people out of the industry.
i know its not a good thing to mention but the poor deceased name De’ath!
knowall:
Now I’ve stuck my head in the noose, I suppose you’ll let me have itK
Fair comment, I thought…I don’t think eastern European immigration has been good news for drivers, it is inevitable that this depresses wages, but that’s the fault of politicians for allowing it, not for those trying to earn a better income than they could at home.
Same as it’s always been, the biggest threat to working class people comes from Labour governments.
Well said Knowall, I couldnt find the drivers that wanted to earn good money but be away for 2 to 3 weeks.
Had 3 polish drivers, on same money as UK drivers but would go away for the 2 to 3 weeks and not complian.
Had 3 trucks on for Translact at the peak of thier busy time, pulled them off when the accident happened but had been working for them of and on up till last month, got a call to bring trailer back and that was it, all gone, they kept a few Translact trucks on local work.
They (Taymix & Translact) always paid, not the best rates, but you got your money.
Pity VOSA took such a long time to get there act together, the company had been running squeaky clean since the accident, most of the drivers that are working for them now, had started after the accident and will loose their jobs.
Manslaughter charges were dropped but the firm and directors fined £60,000 for health & safety breaches and with all the costs incured, solicitors, baristers ect. it must have cost them a few hundred thousand but they still paid the subbies.
Shame to see an old company go, but I think they will still find a way to continue as they are involved in buying and selling animal feeds, so we may see the trailers but subbies pulling them, who know’s.
m3ter:
Translact driver, Maciej Szcygiecki, was jailed for four years on a charge of dangerous driving after admitting driving for 16 hours without a break.Well what do you expect with a name like that !!!
Shame to see the companies go but more importantly sadness that lives were taken to find such problems…
dont judge lest you be judged…i dont wanna go off topic but this really ■■■■■ me off when someone is judged because their name happens to be foreign(Polish)…yeah fair enough the bloke in question has been judged and punished for what he has done…but DONT judge a foreigner when their are plenty of ■■■■■■■ atrocious BRITISH drivers running bent all the time!!! 
Bikemonkey:
dont judge lest you be judged…i dont wanna go off topic but this really [zb] me off when someone is judged because their name happens to be foreign(Polish)…yeah fair enough the bloke in question has been judged and punished for what he has done…but DONT judge a foreigner when their are plenty of [zb] atrocious BRITISH drivers running bent all the time!!!
Exactly and the post from knowall was exactly on the mark and 100% correct about British driver attitudes
Remember being interviewed for this outfit a few years ago but turned it down because the tm at the time commented that he felt I was actually interviewing himself by virtue of me daring to have the impertinence to pose a few salient questions concerning working for his illustrious company…had a sixth sense that thankfully kicked in and informed him he had’nt been successful in securing my services,was working for Maritime at the time so illustrates the depth of my ill feeling towards them.Lucky escape pilgrims.
Quote :Pity VOSA took such a long time to get there act together, the company had been running squeaky clean since the accident, most of the drivers that are working for them now, had started after the accident and will loose their jobs.
Why blame the VOSA this time ? why would they have to get there act together, the old bill said there was over 10,000 offences in a year !!
Easy to run straight after you have been caught and someones been kiled, Isnt Vosa boys fault that a driver reportedly decides to run 16 hours or there fault that the company helps, aides and encourages drivers to do so !!
I am sort of on the fence over this. I subbed for Bob for quite a while and always got paid, as has been said, although the rates were way below the best, and the more I did the less I seemed to actually earn, but that was Bob all the way. I got into several nasty spats with him, especially over a certain load of pulp cider which some may recall if they worked for him. It culminated in my challenging him to a 3am duel in Wylie after I finally got angry enough.
To be honest, Bob couldn’t lie straight in bed. Some of the things I did were way beyond questionable and into the realms of ridiculous. I was lucky to get away with them and am not proud that I did them. But I think that, had VOSA stamped on them sooner then this whole sorry episode would never have happened. Bob is, at heart, a bit cowardly, despite being a big fellah, so a bit of trouble 6 or 7 years ago would have starightened him out a bit.