Commercial vehicles

Cheshire Police operate a commercial vehicles unit who work with the Vehicle Operator Services Agency and the Highways Agency to check the roadworthyness of commercial vehicles.

It is not just roadworthiness that's being checked - officers have also uncovered drug hauls, people smuggling, counter-terrorism information and money laundering crimes. The unit will stop commercial vehicles and will make a range of checks, below are some of the penalties that can be imposed on offenders.

Police powers

On the spot fines

Legislation allows Police and VOSA to issue on the spot fines to drivers without a suitable UK address. These range from £30 to £300, with a maximum of 3 tickets, or £900, per offender.

Fixed penalty notices

Drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles are restricted to a number of hours they can drive each day and each week and are also restricted to a maximum weight per vehicle. Such breaches are dealt with by graduated fixed penalty notice and prohibition.

Prohibition of a vehicle

Cheshire Constabulary and VOSA can in certain circumstances prohibit a vehicle for up to 45 hours. If it is suspected that the vehicle may be driven away or if a driver does not pay the fine, then the vehicle can be immobilised. This is basically an armoured cable wrapped around an axle so it cannot move.

Fine and prohibit before court proceedings

Cheshire Constabulary and VOSA fine and prohibit before any subsequent court proceedings. However if a driver goes to court and found not guilty, fines are returned with interest paid. So far there have been no "not guilty" pleas.

Arrest

Since May 2006, all tachograph recording equipment is digital, which means all driving activities are recorded on a driver card. One of the most serious offences is when driver attaches a magnet to the sender unit by the vehicle gear box. This interferes with the recording equipment and can show the vehicle at rest when actually in motion. This is an offence by which a driver can be arrested under the Fraud Act. It essentially creates a false instrument and it also will interfere with the Anti-lock Braking System and will bypass the speed limiter - thereby allowing the vehicle can attain any speed. This also mean none of the controls will operate up on the dashboard.

There have been a very small minority of drivers and hauliers alike who constantly flout the regulations and rules.

If they come through Cheshire's motorway network they are going to get stopped and they are going to get dealt with robustly. That may be way of fixed fine, court appearance or time off the road in the form of a prohibition.

Cheshire Police Commercial Vehicle Unit

The Commercial Vehicle Unit began in June 2009, working in partnership with the Vehicle Operator Services Agency and the Highways Agency.

It is part of Cheshire Constabulary’s Road Policing Unit and has dedicated officers checking the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles by the M6 services at Sandbach.

HM Revenue and Customs and the Department of Work and Pensions are also involved and the different authorities pool their powers to keep motorways safe.

It is not just roadworthiness that’s being checked - officers have also uncovered drug hauls, people smuggling, counter-terrorism information and money laundering crimes.

Then there is the illegal use of rebated heavy oil, or red diesel, by commercial vehicles. This is heavily-discounted fuel only available to farmers and construction companies - and dyed a distinctive red colour. Wrongful use of this fuel has tax implications.

Cheshire Constabulary also check the tachograph of lorries – the device that monitors how long a driver has been at the wheel and details other information about their journey. They also check to see if tachographs have been tampered with to falsify information.

That can range from driving over their hours for a particular day, having insufficient rest in between days of working and working for more days that you should. The worst case scenario we've had until now is drivers who are driving upwards of 20 days without sufficient breaks which obviously has a knock on effect with road safety.

Tachographs are either paper or electronic. Those found to have tampered with their tachograph will be fined and their vehicle impounded for 45 hours.

For more information about the rules involving the number of hours a lorry, van, bus and coach driver can spend on the road, and the use of tachographs, please go to the government's Business Link website.

Successes from the Commercial Vehicles Unit

Between 1 June and 1 December 2009, the two officers in the Commercial Vehicle Unit have:

• Issued 240 graduated fixed penalty tickets to the value of these tickets £40,000. This money goes to the Government.
• Prohibited 160 vehicles from driving
• Created 146 intelligence reports
• Had 35 offenders either arrested or deemed too serious for a graduated fixed penalty notices
• Seized 14 vehicles

The work of Cheshire Constabulary's Commercial Vehicle Unit has been praised by Traffic Commissioner for the north west, Beverley Bell. The Traffic Commissioner controls the licences given to the haulage and taxi industries.

There's certainly been a huge reduction as far as I can see in the incidents of drivers causing difficulties. It's right to say there's been a reduction in the number of fatalities since the unit was opened.

The police are working very hard with VOSA at the road side to physically put unsafe vehicles off the road and make the roads a safer place. The roads are generally safe anyway but what I think this work is doing is targeting those specific operators and drivers need to put off the road quickly.