COMPANY FINED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19897, 27 March 1939, Page 4

COMPANY FINED

DRIVERS’ LONG HOURS BREACH OP REGULATIONS Breaches of the transport regulations, in that they allowed two drivers to work for a period of more than 11 hours in 24 hours, caused the appearance of Alfred Monk, Ltd., a motor transport company, before Mr. E. L. 'Walton, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court to-day. The defendant company was fined £l, with 10s costs. Mr. R. Metcalfe, inspector of the Transport Department, who prosecuted, said that two drivers employed by the defendant company had been stopped by him on the GisborneOpotiki highway. Both drivers had .stated that they had been on the road for more than 11 hours that day. The men had been engaged in the conveyance of sheep between Taneatua and Gisborne, and timesheets later inspected by the inspector had shown that they had both done 13fc hours' work on the date they were stopped by the inspector. The regulations provided that drivers could not work more than 11 continuous hours in 24 hours. ‘‘l have grave doubts whether the trip can be made in the time permitted by the regulations,” said the inspector, who added that in the event of the trucks meeting with mechanical trouble, it would be impossible to carry out the return flip in 11 hours.

For the defendant, Mr. Chrisp said that relief drivers were now taken out on the trucks and all steps had been taken to keep within the regulations, as the company appreciated that the trip could not be carried out in 11 hours.

The defendant company was fined as above, informations against the drivers concerned being withdrawn.