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Licence cut for demolition firm at inquiry
Page 34
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A DEMOLITION FIRM appearing at its third public inquiry has had its licence cut from seven vehicles to six for a period of three months and received a total suspension for three days.
The action against Stoke-onTrent-based Potteries Demolition was for a combination of maintenance problems and using a vehicle without a valid test certificate. The firm had been called be fore West Midland Deputy Traffic Commissioner Lester Maddrell. It had appeared at public inquiries in 1997 and 1998; the licence was curtailed on both occasions.
Vehicle examiner Andrew Smith said he examined three vehicles in November and issued an immediate prohibition and a defect notice. Stated inspection periods had been extended, on one occasion to 22 weeks. There was no forwardplanning system or written driver defect-reporting system. Of three vehicles presented for annual test, two failed on first presentation. The test certificate of one vehicle had expired at the end of April 2007. Managing director and transport manager Michael Edwards Senior said the use of the vehicle with the expired test certificate had been a mistake. It was a second-hand vehicle which the firm had bought thinking it had 12 months' MoT, but clearly it hadn't.
The vehicle that had gone 22 weeks between inspections had been parked up. The drivers had been reporting defects verbally; that had been put into order now, as had the forward planning. The vehicles were all quite new.
Asked why vehicles had gone too long between inspections. Edwards said he had no excuse. The DTC could rest assured that everything was in order now. The intention was to get a new transport manager within two months.
The DTC said that most operators that came before their third public inquiry ended up without a licence, but he took into account the fact that the last public inquiry was 10 years ago.
• Potteries Heavy Haulage, based in Stoke-on-Trent, has escaped with a formal warning after giving a number of undertakings about its future maintenance arrangements before West Midland Deputy Traffic Commissioner Lester Maddrell.
Vehicle examiner Andrew Smith said he had imposed a delayed prohibition in September. Safety inspections had been extended beyond the stated intervals, by up to 23 weeks for vehicles and 39 weeks for trailers. Director Michael Edwards had said he had difficulty inspecting vehicles on time as they were away on the Continent.
The DTC was told that not all inspection records had been retained but that significant steps had been taken to address the shortcomings.