Court Report

Multiple Tachograph Offences

A Country Antrim operator was convicted at Belfast Magistrates Court and fined a total of £850 after DVA enforcement officers stopped a Mercedes Large Goods Vehicle.

An inspection of the vehicle combination was carried out including the tachograph records, from this check it was noted that the driver had used the vehicle on two dates without his driver’s digital tachograph card inserted in the vehicle tachograph until. In addition to this there were four other occasions the vehicle was driven without a driver’s card in the recording equipment. It was further noted that the driver digital tachograph card has not been downloaded by the operator within the required timeframe, the download missed by 20 days.

Fined after in-depth investigation

A County Armagh operator has been convicted at Armagh Departmental Court and fined a total of £500 on tachograph offences. The conviction arose when DVA enforcement officers carried out an in-depth tachograph investigation.

The operator was contacted by DVA and made aware of the nature of the enquiries requesting the specific digital tachograph data. Tachograph data was produced, and the following infringements noted: Failure to download vehicle data within the prescribed timeframe, the deadline was missed by 513 days on one vehicle and by 43 days on another. Regulations require that a transport undertaking download the tachograph data from their vehicles every 90 calendar days. It was noted that the records of six drivers had not been downloaded within the prescribed timeframe, or no data was recorded against the download.

Had No Operator Licence

A County Londonderry operator has been convicted at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court and fined a total of £500 for not having an O Licence.

The conviction arose when DVA enforcement officers stopped a Scania large goods vehicle, the operators licencing records were checked and it was noted that it was not specified on a goods vehicle operators’ licence. Regulations require that a vehicle exceeding 3500Kgs being used to transport goods or in relation to a business is covered by a Goods Vehicle Operators licence. The vehicle Digital Tachograph and driver card were downloaded and analysed. The driver’s card analysis indicated that there was no data recorded against the previous download report. Regulations require a transport undertaking downloads the drivers digital tachograph card every 28 days.

Tachograph Offences & No Operator Licence

A County Armagh operator has been convicted at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court and fined a total of £900 after DVA enforcement officers were asked to assist police with an inspection of a vehicle stopped on the M1 Motorway near Craigavon. The vehicle was subsequently directed to DVA premises in Craigavon.

An inspection of the vehicle combination was carried out including the tachograph records. The driver advised he did not have a digital tachograph card however later ejected a driver’s card belonging to his employer from the vehicle unit. The operator did not hold a valid Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). The vehicle was not on a Goods Vehicle Operators Licence. The user had previously held a goods vehicle operator’s licence although this licence had been revoked. The vehicle was being driven without the appropriate driver’s card in the vehicle unit on the date of detection and had been driven on an additional 20 occasions without a digital driver’s card inserted in the vehicle tachograph recording equipment. The vehicle tachograph unit download deadline had been missed by 2337 days with the previous download having been completed 2427 days, missing the 90 days download deadline.

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