Multi-firm boss loses repute
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roil A transport man
ager who was nominated on 10 different firms' 0licences has lost his repute by failing to ensure that drivers working for one of the companies kept within the law.
Alfred Turner appeared before West Midlands and Welsh Traffic Commissioner, David Dixon, at a Birmingham disciplinary inquiry. He was the nominated transport manager for the West Midlands firm James International Transport, as well as another nine companies in the Welsh and Western traffic areas.
Traffic examiner Patricia Earp said she visited the premises of James International last August and interviewed director George James about a failure to produce tachograph records. James said Turner had not pointed out that numerous tachograph records were missing, saying: "I'm appalled, gutted and have been taken for a mug." When Earp looked at the tachograph records available, she realised the company's drivers were not complying with the double manning rules.
Earp considered that Turner played no real part in the business and was transport manager in name only.
In response to the IC's comments, Turner said he obtained his CPC through grandfather rights in 1979. He claimed to work four hours a week for James International, spending one hour at the company's Willenhall depot checking the tachograph charts, but he did not organise the transport or drivers.
Claiming that he got no cooperation from the company's operations manager, Turner said the company had had such a great turnover of drivers that he could not keep up with it. But he agreed he had not asked for a list of drivers in the 12 months he had been there, or interviewed any of the drivers who had committed infringements.
In finding that Turner had lost his repute, Dixon said it was quite clear he had not been doing the transport manager's job in any proper sense. His failure to ensure compliance with the law by drivers employed with James International over 14 months struck at the heart of his good repute as a transport manager.
1 have no objection to a transport manager being nominated on more than one licence," he said, "but I have to be satisfied that he is doing the job properly in the full sense On each licence, and it must be physically possible. He has to be very much more than just ; name on the licence."
He said he would give ths other companies in his twc Traffic Areas who still hat Turner nominated on thei licences three months to find ; new transport manager, and hi would be informing the Wester' TC of his decision.