Don't 'rent' transport managers, warns TC By Roger Brown EAST
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OF England traffic commissioner (TC) Richard Turfitt (right) has warned hauliers about the risks to their 0-licence and personal repute if they allow third parties to act as brokers in the appointment of transport managers.
At a February public inquiry in Cambridge, the TC was told how Paul Forsdick had been transport manager at Suffolk-based Express Haulage in 2011.
However, he was paid by Sigma Studies or its partner organisation Transport Advisory Consultants, which arranged the role, and his contractual relationship was therefore with that business.
The plan at Express was that Forsdick would be CPC holder until its director Domas Zevuckis had obtained the qualification. Forsdick subsequently resigned from Express in October 2011. EU regulations introduced in December 2011 require that there be a "genuine link" between an operator and its transport manager.
In his written decision, the TC also warned CPC holders that they should resign rather than allow a haulier to use them in name only.
He said: "Statutory document number three on transport managers clearly refers to the legal requirement for there to be a genuine link, a contractual relationship, between the operator and transport manager.
"All responsible operators and CPC holders should be aware of this requirement and guard against third parties attempting to act as brokers in this way."
The TC held back from taking away Forsdick's repute. He disqualified Zevuckis from both acting as a director of a transport operation or performing the role of transport manager for five years.