The battle against emissions cheats continued this week as the Office of the Traffic Commissioner issued another warning to operators tempted to fit AdBlue emulators to their trucks.
The TCs office says it recognises that some operators claim they have bought vehicles without realising that an emissions cheat device had been fitted but added that “other operators simply admitted fitting the devices”.
The excuses included vehicle performance issues.
The TC’s office statement added: “Operators experience problems with the AdBlue system and look for a way to fix them. Instead of going to an authorised dealer or taking professional advice (eg. from DVSA or a solicitor), they speak to someone who says that installing an emulation device will bypass the AdBlue system and resolve the performance issues.
"This is bad advice. It should never, ever be followed.”
The statement cited cases that had come before TCs recently which indicated the consequences for hauliers who broke the regulations by taking advice from the wrong people.
The TCs office said: “That’s exactly what happened in a recent case before Nick Denton, the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner.
The operator relied on advice from an automotive electrician and had heard other hauliers were using emulator devices to deal with AdBlue issues.
Mr Denton said the company – and its transport manager – should have taken the necessary professional advice and not relied on someone who wasn’t qualified to tamper with the vehicle.
In the absence of any other compliance issues, he curtailed the firm’s licence from 28 to 5 vehicles for 14 days from 2 June – and then to 22 vehicles indefinitely after.
The transport manager lost his repute and was disqualified indefinitely.”
