The DVSA handed out more than £1.5m in fines for drivers’ hours and tachograph offences last year after discovering 6,637 examples.
In 2016/17, 12 truck drivers received immediate prison sentences; and 30 received suspended sentences after breaching tachograph or drivers’ hours rules.
Some 6,637 fixed penalty notices were issued, recouping £1,487,750 in fines.
The DVSA highlighted the figures after a Bristol-based HGV driver was sentenced to six months in prison after he was found to have used another driver’s tachograph card to breach drivers’ hours rules.
DVSA enforcement officers discovered that Charles Dermott Byrne was using his brother’s driver card to avoid taking breaks and create false tachograph records.
Although Byrne admitted to having used the card a few times, closer analysis by the DVSA discovered he had used his brother’s card on 21 occasions between July 2016 and February 2017.
Byrne, of Davis Street, Bristol, was convicted of 21 counts of knowingly creating a false tachograph record and was given an immediate six-month custodial sentence.
DVSA chief executive Gareth Llewellyn said: “The DVSA is committed to protecting you from dangerous drivers and vehicles.
“Driver tiredness is one of the biggest killers on Britain’s roads and we take attempts to get around drivers’ hours regulations very seriously.
“We will pursue anyone who commits drivers’ hours offences to the fullest extent of the law. This sentence sends a clear message - it will not be tolerated.”
