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Transport manager to face inquiry
Page 22
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A Uverpool owner-driver has had his public inquiry adjourned to allow his transport manager to attend. William Callaghan. trading as B&C Transport, of Kirkby, had been called before North Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell at a Wigan disciplinary inquiry. He holds a national licence for one vehicle and one trailer.
Vehicle examiner Peter Rimmer said that three immediate prohibitions, one showing a significant maintenance failure, had been issued since January 2001. He agreed with Chris Harris, appearing for Callaghan, that a speed limiter could have been defective when the vehicle was acquired—but he pointed out that it should have been given a first-use inspection before being driven.
Callaghan said he had become an owner-driver after getting fed up with casual employment; he now handled container work from Liverpool docks. He said he had checked the vehicle over when he took it over in January 2001, but clearly not well enough. The vehicle was later found to have two sheared wheel studs. He was subsequently convicted of using a vehicle in a dangerous condition. In reply to Bell, Callaghan said that his nominated transport manager, Christopher Gill, lived In Durham and worked 20 hours a week, visiting him over the weekend, for which he was paid £250. He himself was paid per load, although he admitted: "A lot of the time it's not worth doing the job."
The IC said she wondered what the transport manager was doing when inspection records were not signed off and the period between inspections was not being adhered to.
After being told that Gill was employed as an HGV driver, Bell said she wondered when he took his weekly rest period if he was visiting Callaghan at the weekends.
Adjourning the proceedings, the IC said the case raised an extremely important issue, and that was the role of the transport manager. She was not satisfied that Gill was completing his duties properly.