On Tuesday this week, A friend of a freind got caught in Slough area driving a Transit Van that was 32% over the weight limit!!! Its a Single Wheel “Jumbo” Transit, with a payload of 1.7T.(Thius is what i have been told 3rd hand, not sure if its right or not)
Whe he was nicked, they told him that if he was at 30% they wuld have let him off with a warning, which i find very hard to believe…
He is only 23, had his driving license just over 2 years, and is very worried he is gonna get banned…
Anyone have any idea as to what punishment he will get in court■■?
“a maximum fine of £5,000 per offence. With a 3.5-tonne van that’s potentially an overloaded front axle, an overloaded rear axle and an overloaded vehicle, which could add-up to £15,000”
In our old firm we had a van stopped and found to be overweight by around the same margin. The driver was told to take the excess off and then let on his way. Nothing happend as far as fines, but a letter was sent with a warning. Three weeks later another letter came with the date of a vehicle/s inspection at the firms premises.
This was 9 years ago, as we all know now, these sort of offences may be taken more seriously.
BuzzardBoy:
On Tuesday this week, A friend of a freind got caught in Slough area driving a Transit Van that was 32% over the weight limit!!! Its a Single Wheel “Jumbo” Transit, with a payload of 1.7T.(Thius is what i have been told 3rd hand, not sure if its right or not)
Whe he was nicked, they told him that if he was at 30% they wuld have let him off with a warning, which i find very hard to believe…
He is only 23, had his driving license just over 2 years, and is very worried he is gonna get banned…
Anyone have any idea as to what punishment he will get in court■■?
tell your “mate” to be careful and not drop the soap
His punishment will depend on a few factors: namely whether the beak had his leg over the night before, or how good an argument Trading Standards (the guys who prosecute these offences) put up.
I got caught at Wetherby last year in a 3.5 tonne Sprinter weighing 5 tonne. I got a £500 fine after T/S argued for £4000!! Mind you, I did have a letter from a public weighbridge near the loading point stating I’d been there for a check weigh that day but was unable to do so as their bridge was inop.
Whilst on my training I was teamed up with a traffic copper in GMP, we pulled a box van over driven by a couple of likely lads, when the copper got the van to a weighbridge, it turned out to be 1,500 kg overweight. The copper reported them and told them they would be going to court. The funniest thing was when the lads replied that they had just had their dinner which was why the van was overweight, the copper said that they must have had everything on the menu 10 times over for it to be that heavy!!
32% over the weight limit is going to get him a severe wallet bashing. If he was driving for a company, both he and they will get a wallet bashing. He is likely to end up with points on his licence which must be declared to his insurers as soon as he is given them.
As a “beak” who also holds an O licence!!, a few pointers:
Was the vehicle his as an “owner-operator” or was he a driver for a company that owned the vehicle?
The answer to this question will give an idea of the level of punishment enforced by a magistrates court. Please also be aware that if there are other offences being considered,eg dangerous driving, load secured in such a manner as to cause a danger of injury , etc, then it is possible that the Magistrates may look to send it to Crown Court.
For an overlaoding offence, for each offence -over gross vehicle weight, per axxle overweight, the penalty can be up to £5,000 per offence, and further penalty for driver and operator
Conor:
32% over the weight limit is going to get him a severe wallet bashing. If he was driving for a company, both he and they will get a wallet bashing. He is likely to end up with points on his licence which must be declared to his insurers as soon as he is given them.
I’ve been told by my insurance company that I only need to inform them of any extra points gained when I renew my insurance.
The driver is a young lad in his first driving job, he works for a company a relative of mine works for(They are in a senior position, hence the extra info). He was loading the van, and knows the van can only legally carry 130 boxes, before its over weight. The woman in charge that morning told him he has to take 200 boxes out with him, as “They must be there”. Being young and naive, the lad does it, and then gets pulled and found to be grossly overweight!!
Now, We all know the lad should have said no, but he didnt The woman has admitted to basically forcing him to do it.
The compay run no HGV’s so therefore have no operators license.
Now, there are 2 drivers on the van, both are equal parties, they are BOTH responsible for loading the van, and unloading the van, They BOTH share the driving… I am not sure what the other drivers hand in all of this is, whether he agreed to the van being overloaded or not, i dont know if that makes any diffference!!
My relative says the company are just going to plead ignorance and pay the fines… Says it all really!!
Rog is right. I think the term for this offence is that it’s a non mobile traffic violition (like parking offences) and as such can only be punished financially not with points.
