Portadown haulage operator fined £8,700 and Company Directors disqualified for tachograph and drivers hours offences

A Co Armagh haulage company was fined a total of £8,700 at Craigavon Magistrates' Court today.
~ Monday, 16 January 2012

At the same court Disqualification Orders were made against the two Company Directors preventing them from being a director of a company for 11 years.

The charges related to a targeted investigation into the operation of 12 vehicles by Landmark Haulage Limited of 47 Derrycarne Road, Portadown, Co Armagh.

The company was fined £500 on each of 12 counts of producing, supplying and/or installing a device designed to interfere with the proper operation of tachograph recording equipment.

It was also fined £150 on each of ten specimen counts of making a false entry and £200 on each of six counts of failing to produce tachograph records.

The Company Directors of Landmark Haulage Limited at the time of the investigation were Mark and Lorraine Somerville. The Court ordered that each be disqualified from holding a company directorship for 11 years.

Eight drivers employed by the company at the time of the investigation had been dealt with by an earlier court and received combined fines totalling £2,900 for tachograph and drivers hours offences.

On 29 November 2009 officers from the Driver & Vehicle Agency supported by PSNI Roads Policing conducted a targeted operation against Landmark Haulage Limited and discovered 12 vehicles operated by the company with devices capable of interrupting the signals to the tachograph recording equipment. Subsequent analysis of the company’s records revealed that between October 2009 and November 2009 over 40,000 kilometres had not been properly accounted for.

The legislation relating to tachographs and drivers' hours is designed to ensure the safety of road users from overtired drivers as well as providing for fair competition in the haulage industry and protecting the natural and built environment.

Welcoming the ruling, Head of Road and Armed Support, Superintendent Muir Clark said: "While we welcome the courting ruling today, which has been delivered by working in partnership with our Driver and Vehicle Agency colleagues, it is particularly disappointing that the Haulage Operator and its employees risked the lives of other innocent road users. I have no doubt that this joint operation has made our roads safer and hope that the court imposed fines and disqualifications will serve as a strong warning to others."

Notes to editors:

1. The charges were brought against Landmark Haulage Limited under the Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) Regulations (NI) 1996.
2. The Disqualification Order against Mark and Lorraine Somerville was brought under the Company Directors Disqualification (NI) Order 2002.
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