Unlicensed Canin still runs to Turkey
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by Rob Willock • International haulier Davies Turner is employing an illegal operator with Turkish drivers and paying it £200 less than British hauliers get for the same work. Last week, following a tip-off from a concerned British owner-driver, Commercial Motor photographed trucks waiting to load outside DT's Manchester yard which failed to display Operator's Licences or valid tax discs.
Four of the five offending vehicles wore the livery of the London-based, Turkishowned firm Canin, which had its 0-licence suspended for three months on 26 November following a public inquiry.
Davies Turner's joint managing director Michael Stevenson admits that the company pays Turkish firms £200 less per roundtrip, but says he is now investigating Canin in the light of information he has received.
Stevenson has told Canin to produce valid VED and 0-licence discs, annual test certificates and, where necessary, ADR documents before any more of its trucks are loaded. But there are still two Canin trucks running for DT between Turkey and the UK. "Our biggest concern is CMR insurance to protect our customers, and we know Canin has that," says Stevenson. "But if it does not comply with tax and licensing regulations we do not want to be associated with it. At any time we have around 200 trucks working on a subcontract basis—they are all checked periodically."
Stevenson says that Canin is declaring between eight and 10 vehicles to his insurance company, but the company's 0-licence was authorised for only three.
Catlin director Gurcan Sungar tells Commercial Motor that since losing his 0licence he has sold all his vehicles to Turkish owner-drivers. He insists the vehicles are no longer working for Canin, and says he has three new vehicles on order for when his 0-licence suspension ends on 26 February. However, Commercial Motor understands from official sources that at least three Canin-liveried vehicles do not appear on any 0-licence in the country. • British drivers are warning freight forwarders that they will photograph unlicensed and untaxed tnicks and pass on the pic
tures to the enforcement authorities. This follows an increasing number of reports that some firms are using cheap, illegal foreign labour for international work (CM16-22 October).
One camera-wielding haulier has shown Commercial Motor a sample of his pictures. They clearly show British-registered vehicles at home and abroad without 0-licence or tax discs on display.