I have a query that hopefully someone can answer and put my mind at ease.
The company that I drive for have the lorry and trailer on long term lease from a rental company and therefore we get an email from the rental company telling us a time and date for the unit and trailer to be taken for the services. Now it seems that the last few times it’s been in for service it always seems to be one or two weeks over the time period allowed between services. Now if I am driving a unit and trailer and one of them is overdue a service (and I don’t know it’s overdue because I am not involved with that side of things) am I actually commiting any offence ■■
I’ve brought it up with my boss and it’s an attitude of ‘it always get done within a couple of weeks of the date’ as they don’t like the lorry being off the road and not earning anything.
I don’t really see how you could be held responsible for not complying with a rule that’s only a part of the operators license agreement, surely that’s solely the transport operators responsibility not the drivers.
To be honest as long as the vehicle gets inspected at regular intervals without going too far over the stipulated time (presumably six weeks) and assuming the vehicle is generally well maintained I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
But it will be interesting to see if other people agree as I’ve never really given this much thought before
tachograph:
But it will be interesting to see if other people agree as I’ve never really given this much thought before
I was forced to give it more than some thought a few years ago (so therefore, things may and can change )
The upshot was I had it confirmed by those I trust . . . . . . . .
The actual point of it is that it’s an “administrative requirement” (forget for the moment the safety aspect)
It falls in with the requirement to pay VED. Requirement to hold a certificate of insurance. Etc.
As an employed driver they are not your responsibility. Regardless of what a company may or may not include it it’s Contract of Employment, Schedule of Particulars, or even Driver’s Handbooks
To be absolutely clear, one needs to see the differences between specific offences.
There’s so much smoke & mirrors about that it’s far too easy to cough to something you could quite easily contest/defend. The Lincolnshire (■■) haulier some use as example in the “Nicked for speeding from tacho record” debate.
If you plead guilty to an offence, the “system” is honour bound to find and sentence you so. If you plead not guilty the burden of proof (in most cases) rests with “the system”
as the driver you don’t have to worry about this its the operators job, i worked for a large truck and trailer rental company and there policy was to inform the operator of the service and give him a date of said service i think that once the date was excepted by the operator there would have to stick to it or face a recharge this also goes for MOT’s.
It’s the operators job. As a driver you’re not expected to know what their servicing schedule is, and you’re not going to get into trouble if the thing is overdue. It would be impossible to work that way, especially at firms where you get a different truck every day or for agency drivers who have no idea at all when the truck they are driving was last serviced.
