North Wales Police has become the first force in the country to work in conjunction with VOSA to tackle commercial vehicles.
And since the Commercial Vehicle Unit was set up in Llandygai last week the team of three police officers and a VOSA vehicle examiner have issued over £6,000 worth of fines and 21 prohibitions for drivers hours offences.
One lorry driver who was stopped had done 99 hours driving in two weeks – 9 hours more than he was permitted to drive, having just taken 7hours rest in 24 hours.
Another German vehicle, with a Spanish trailer, was not only found to be carrying chemicals illegally, but both Romanian drivers were arrested for having false documents. They were issued with a fixed penalty totalling £800 and the company was required to pay a £500 release fee after the drivers were prohibited from driving for 45 hours.
Sergeant Ifan Jones, who is responsible for running the unit which will cover the whole of North Wales, explained that they will be targeting all commercial vehicles, from LGVs to taxis and school buses, looking at drivers hours offences, use of rebated fuel (red and green diesel), money laundering, human trafficking and carriage of dangerous goods, like chemicals and gases.
“We are the first force in the UK to have a VOSA person attached to the unit full time,” said Sgt Jones.
The unit has been established following public concerns about commercial vehicles travelling along the A55 to Holyhead Port.
“Foreign wagons are a big concern for the public,” he said, adding that 750 trucks per day come through Holyhead Port, with a large number of drivers being forced to drive illegally because of the pressures being imposed on them by their bosses, who are suffering from the credit crunch.
Officers will act on intelligence, where ever possible, but they will also be involved in operations which will be dedicated to certain aspects of the job, including checking taxis and school buses.
“It’s all about addressing public concerns. Foreign drivers have been highlighted, but we will be targeting all commercial vehicles. For every 10 wagons we stop there is a fault with at least six of them.”
Helen O’Grady a traffic examiner with VOSA added: “It’s good to have a good working relationship with North Wales Police. VOSA officers have no powers of arrest and we cannot exceed the speed limit, so this unit now enables us to check more vehicles in a shorter space of time.”
“By bringing all the knowledge and skills of both sides together we can check everything as opposed to being limited,” she said, pointing out that they will look at everything from the effectiveness of the speedometer to the tyre sizes, poor maintenance and overloading.
If anyone has any information to suggest that commercial vehicles are flouting the law the Commercial Vehicle Unit would like to hear from you. You can contact Sgt Ifan Jones, PC Nick Power, PC Meurig Jones or Helen O’Grady on 101 if in Wales, or 0845 607 1001 (Welsh line) or 0845 607 1002 (English line).
Alternatively you can text 66767 or e-mail [email protected].
