North Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell has said that there
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is no place in the North Western Traffic Area for dishonest operators.
She issued her warning while disqualifying Kevin Malone, former director of Transfreight Services, from holding an 0-licence in her area for seven years. However, the disqualification applies only to the North-West, so Malone can continue as a director of Gwynedd Transport, which holds a licence in the Welsh Traffic Area.
Transfreight had been formed to take over the work of AJ Long Transport after that company's licence was revoked and its managing director Anthony Long was sent to prison for smuggling rebated fuel from the Irish Republic.
Last July Bell revoked Transfreight's 0licence for 25 vehicles and 50 trailers and disqualified it from holding an 0-licence indefinitely after hearing that its drivers had been interfering with both tachographs and speed limiters, She also revoked the HGV driving licence of the drivers concerned, and disqualified them for periods ranging from two to 15 months.
The IC said that the Transfreight licence was granted by Deputy IC Mark Hinchliffe after Malone had given undertakings that the firm would resort to professional tachograph analysis with monthly reports, and that the appropriate action would be taken if there were infringements.
Malone had put his reputation on the line to get a licence for Transfreight, using the good name and reputation of Gywnedd Transport, "Was Anthony Long running the company from his prison cell with the assistance of Mrs Long?" the Commissioner asked. "If so, was he doing so with the knowledge of Mr Malone?" She found that Malone had failed to abide by the spirit of the undertakings given to the Deputy IC by relying upon Kathleen Long. She doubted that the licence would have been granted if HinchlifFe had known that Long would be running the business. "Quite bluntly, he left it all to Kathleen Long," said the IC. "That was reckless. I take the view that Mr Malone is totally culpable for Transfreight Services."
The TO noted Malone's protestation that he had been unaware of what was going on, but pointed out that Long was running the business and the drivers and the vehicles were the same. Bell decided there had been a systematic abuse of the hours' rules, with the use of defective speed limiters and the falsification of tachograph charts. She considered that Malone should have known what was going on.
She took account of the fact that Malone had co-operated with the Vehicle Inspectorate; that all the company's debts had been paid; that Malone had suffered a substantial financial loss; and that there seemed to be no problems with Gwynedd Transport.