LA wants to 'see how it goes'
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• Hill Top Transport, a company run by Bachitter Singh whose previous company B Singh Transport failed, has been granted a oneyear licence at a Birmingham public inquiry.
The West Bromwich-based company sought a licence authorising three vehicles, when it appeared before West Midland Licensing Authority John Mervyn Pugh.
The LA said that in 1988, maintenance problems led to the duration of the licence held by B Singh Transport being cut. No action was taken at a further disciplinary inquiry in 1989, and in April 1990 the licence was renewed for 16 vehicles and 13 trailers, The company was called to yet another disciplinary inquiry because of its maintenance record in August 1992, but it went into liquidation and the licence was surrendered before that inquiry could take place.
Singh said that when he was running 16 vehicles, the recession was at its worst and customers were not paying on time. Payment times increased from 30 days to 90 days, then a lot of customers went into liquidation, leav ing the company with lots of debts.
He now proposed to open ate only three 10-tormers and he would make sure that nothing went wrong with them. The vehicles would be inspected every four weeks and he would personally check them each week. When he had sixteen 38 tonners it was a big operation and he could not handle it properly.
After Singh had said that he was only seeking to make a living, Mervyn Pugh said that his concern was public safety. In view of Singh's poor record in the past, he was going to grant a licence for only one year to see if he could cope.
Mervyn Pugh directed that the renewal of the licence be considered at a further public inquiry He also warned that if any of the company's vehicles collected a prohibition indicating a significant maintenance failure, Singh would be back before him quicker than he knew. The licence would be revoked and he would be disqualified from holding a licence for a very long time.