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AL Jones sells fleet after half a century in the industry citing rising fuel costs
Page 19
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NORTH WALES general haulier AL Jones has ceased trading after around 50 years in the road transport business.
Owner Aneurin Owen has sold most of the company's vehicles, including six trucks, to Haydock Commercials, although he is retaining one for his own use.
Owen has blamed spiralling fuel costs for the decision to close the business. He told CM that the company had run up to 18 vehicles in the past but gradually cut back to a fleet of 10 immediately prior to the closure.
"There's plenty of work around here but the high fuel costs make a lot of it unprofitable," he reports. Owen will be running as an ownerdriver and keeping on the operating base in Corwen. Eight drivers who worked for the firm have all found alternative jobs.
Some companies in the area believe the decision to close may have been linked to the fact that AL Jones was asked to attend a public inquiry in May over tachograph infringements and the misuse of operating centres by drivers. The Traffic Commissioner requested that all drivers' tachographs be submitted to an independent analyst.
AL Jones was also asked to set up a fully documented disciplinary procedure and to make sure that drivers receive instructions on the use of operating centres.
As part of that decision the TO suspended the company's licence for three weeks in July.