The Department of Transport has announced it is stepping up efforts to enforce road haulage legislation to take illegal operators off the road.
The Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Mr McDaid, said today the sector was threatened by "the activities of rogue operators who attempted to gain a cost advantage over law-abiding operators by wilfully ignoring road haulage and road traffic law".
He said that apart from damaging the high standards within the professional road haulage sector, "they [rogue operators] also represent a real threat to safety on our roads. In particular . . . by the ongoing deliberate flouting or regulations governing the length of time drivers may spend at the wheel".
The junior minister said a total of 104 multi-agency checkpoints have been scheduled in 2004 compared to just 44 in 2002.
The department intends to introduce legislaton shortly for a system of on-the-spot fines for offences relating to drivers' hours rules, licensing regulations and the employment of illegal haulage operators, according to Mr McDaid.
