Felixstowe 'muddle' fleet is cut by half
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• Describing the recent state of his own business as "one helluva muddle" a Felixstowe haulage contractor, with six vehicles and four trailers, who also admitted having no knowledge of the haulage industry, appeared before the Eastern LA, Mr H. E. Robson, at Ipswich, under Section 69 last week.
Mr K. French, trading as French's Garage, said in answer to questions put to him by his solicitor that he had agreed to a suggestion by a traffic manager previously employed by him that he should enter the haulage business to ease the burden of overheads on a garage he owned. Having many business interests and no knowledge of haulage he left all the running of the business to this manager. Subsequently, the manager took on another man who eventually succeeded him as traffic manager before being dismissed by the company when the original manager reverted to this position. Subsequently, he too left the firm in September.
Mr M. Gotelee, for Mr French, said new systems were being implemented which he felt sure would put an end to their troubles and in addition Mr French was taking a considerable personal interest in the business now.
Earlier, the LA had heard the evidence of two vehicle examiners who had visited the premises on several occasions. On one occasion three GV9s had been issued and since some of the defects found had most likely existed prior to a certified inspection only seven days before, it was concluded that the inspections were not being carried out properly.
The second examiner gave evidence of visiting the premises during August and September when he found two vehicles not entered on the licence. He also ,reported a number of offences including inaccurate drivers' records, alterations to records and a driver who had not held an hgv licence for a period when he was working for the company. During the course of this evidence it was stated that Mr French, his company and several drivers employed by him had ap
peared before Felixstowe magistrates in May this year to answer a total of 90 charges mostly concerned with drivers' hours and records.
Both vehicle examiners agreed that in all their calls at French's Garage they had been referred to a traffic manager and had understood that Mr French was not involved in the day-to-day running affairs of the business. Since Mr French had returned to business after a four-month illness following the court cases he had withdrawn four vehicles from service and had taken steps to exert a far greater control over the business.
Summing up, Mr Robson said he found this a very disturbing case. He appreciated that Mr French had relied upon his traffic managers but he was the licence holder and in the two years the company had been operating affairs had been very unsatisfactory. Drivers' records were badly and inadequately kept; vehicles could easily have fallen into a dangerous state. "There has been a serious failure of management; there has been a serious failing of supervision," he said.
Mr Robson thought Mr French had a far better understanding of what was required from him now and he applauded his action in curtailing his fleet by withdrawing some of the vehicles when he realized the extent of the trouble. Mr Robson hoped the measures he had learned of that day would prove effective and that the new traffic manager working under the active control of Mr French would prevent a recurrence of the problems.
However, the case was a serious one and the licence would be curtailed by deleting three of the six vehicles and three of four trailers allowed on the licence, said Mr Robson. In addition, no application for an increase would be entertained within a fourmonth period and any further offences or convictions were to be reported to his office immediately.