Unlicensed haulier is fined just £1,950
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by Mike Jewell • The Government's plan to introduce impounding of unlicenced trucks was given fresh impetus last week after a cowboy operator who ran at least six unlicensed trucks was fined just £1,950 for a catalogue of serious offences. The fines relating to the lack of an 0-licence amounted to just £100 per offence; for driving without insurance he was fined £200.
In September Paul Glendenning, of Lawnswood, Green Lane, Shotton, pleaded guilty before Bootle magistrates to using a vehicle without an 0-licence, authorisation or insurance, and to displaying an 0-licence disc with intent to deceive.
In the same month he pleaded guilty before Liverpool City magistrates to using another vehicle without an 0-licence or insurance; and before Wrexham magistrates to a further three offences. Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, John Heaton said that at the time of the offences none of the vehicles had a registered keeper. In at least one case the driver appeared to have been briefed to name somebody else as his employer.
The Bootle offences related to vehicles involved in carrying frozen food from Ireland to Grimsby. The Wrexham and Liverpool charges arose when vehicles carrying waste on behalf of Clwyd Transport Services to a landfill site at Ruabon were stopped. Again no 0-licence disc was displayed in the vehicle.
Glendenning had been running a substantial haulage business with unlicensed and uninsured vehicles, said Heaton. Steps had been taken to try to conceal the fact that the operation was unlicensed and to suggest that someone else was the operator.
Last month magistrates fined Glendenning just £1,350 for all the offences and disqualified him from driving for 18 months. He was ordered to pay £600 costs.
CM understands that the Government has decided to introduce the impounding of unlicensed trucks and will make an announcement soon.
• Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody says a bill calling for an independent transport safety agency could be law within a year. Dunwoody presented a 10-minute-rule bill in the Commons earlier this week, calling for a watchdog to investigate accidents, produce safety information and promote transport safety. Dunwoody says she has become increasingly concerned about safety on all modes of transport, most recently in the light of evidence to the transport select committee about RaiItrack.