Dealers warned about premises use
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Eastern Traffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms has warned CV dealers and repairers to think carefub before allowing operators to nominate their premises as operating centres.
Simms cut the licence held by Roger Trimmer, trading as Liam Anthony, from six vehicles and two trailers to four vehicles and two trailers on grounds of finance. He also suspended it for 14 days on the grounds that Trimmer had not used his authorised operating centre at the Peterborough premises of Duffields.
"An agreement was entered into with Duffields to carry out safety inspections at six weekly intervals," said the TC. "Duffields also agreed to the use of their premises at The Global Centre, Peterborough, as the operating centre for Mr Trimmer's vehicles. Mr Tnmmer relied upon both agreements to obtain his licence.
"I have to question the desirability of commercial vehicle dealers' premises being used for the purposes of operating centres for the very reasons put forward by Mr Trimmer for his failure to utilise them—namely, the hours at which access is available to such parking facilities. My suspicions lie in the direction of quid pro quo: parking on condition of a maintenance contract.
"I have no concerns, however, pro
vided the parking facility is actually utilised," he added. "In this case it was clearly not. Duffields and other commercial vehicle dealers might be performing a valuable service to the goods transport industry by considering very carefully the practical implications of requests from licence applicants to nominate commercial vehicle vendors' and repairers' premises as their authorised operating centres."
Suspending the licence, the TC said that it would give Trimmer an opportunity to properly notify the change in the arrangements for the safety inspections and repairs to his vehicles and attend to the matter of the operating centre.