Wheel loss operator Loses licence appeal Judge backs TC's decision
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citing significant maintenance failings and high number of prohibitions for small fleet By Roger Brown TAZ DISTRIBUTION has lost its appeal against the decision to revoke its 0-licence after an incident in which one of its trucks lost two wheels on the road.
In a written decision following a hearing in April in London, Upper Tribunal Judge Jacqueline Beech upheld North East traffic commissioner (TC) Kevin Rooney's decision to disqualify Mehfuz Ahmed, director at the Mirfield, West Yorkshire-based haulier, for six months.
While investigating the incident in November 2012, whereby two wheels came off and hit a crash barrier, a Vosa examiner found all 10 nuts on another two wheels on the vehicle were loose.
The Vosa investigation discovered: • one in 10 driving records missing at the business, and more than 50,000km unaccounted for; • 19 prohibitions in two years; • 12 occasions where examiners stopped vehicles not approved on the licence; • a failure to make relevant safety inspection paperwork available; • daily defect reporting carried out by drivers on vehicles to visually identify any faults was poor; • Taz was operating more vehicles than it was authorised to run. There were 11 days where it was clear the authorisation had been exceeded and it was highly likely extra vehicles had been used on many more occasions; • a driver with a conviction for two counts of not recording his driving duty.
Rooney said Taz had engaged in a "systematic abuse" of its licence.
On appeal, Ahmed said the decision to disqualify him was wrong in principle and the disqualification period too long.
He said he had not been afraid to make changes such as getting rid of his transport manager, had sent all his drivers on training courses and had employed an external consultant to carry out audits to ensure the business was compliant.
He accepted action had to be taken but asked for a curtailment to four vehicles to get himself back on track.
However, Judge Beech said: "The TC's finding that the operation of vehicles in excess of authorisation, on the scale identified, amounted to a systemic abuse of the licensing process is well made out on the evidence.
"We cannot criticise the TC's reasoning for imposing a disqualification, and the period of six months may be seen to be lenient in the circumstances."
Summing up Judge Beech said there had been many and significant maintenance failings with an unusually large number of prohibitions issued to a firm with a small fleet.