Company fined after trailers travel too far
A transport company has been fined $2000 for letting two of its trailers exceed the distance they were allowed to travel.
Fitchett Linehaul Limited was not in the Marton District Court for sentencing on Wednesday, but defence lawyer Scott Oliver said he was there on its behalf.
The company had pleaded guilty to two charges of exceeding the maximum reading allowed under a distance license after two trailers, pulled by the same truck, were found to be over the limit.
Judge Justin Marinovich said the charges were laid after the vehicle was inspected at the weigh station in Ōhakea.
A hubodometer on one of the trailers was 4545km over its limit, while the second was 7406km over its maximum reading.
Oliver said the company received a fine of $1500 at the time, but chose to take the issue to court.
The vehicles were used in the dairy industry and the company had “robust” processes in place for purchasing the required road user charges (RUCs), and they did this on a monthly basis.
This would usually cost up to $450,000 and it was something they took seriously, he said.
After estimating the distance each of their 127 vehicles would travel, they allowed a 2000km buffer before purchasing.
On this occasion though, the company did not think the vehicles would be travelling much and no RUCs were bought for the month.
It also “came to their attention” one of the hub metres was faulty. It was tested and found to have a broken seal, and they believed the readings could have been wrong.
Oliver said the company had no prior convictions for this type of offending and it was asking for a $500 fine.
Marinovich said Fitchett Linehaul had an unblemished record, including no demerit offences or suspensions.
He accepted the company looked into the faulty hub, but said the readings from both trailers suggested the over run was “quite significant”.
Looking at the “overall nature” and clean record, he imposed fines of $1000 for each charge.
A hubodometer on one of the trailers was 4545km over its limit, while the second was 7406km over its maximum reading.