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Past connections kill off bid for new licence
Page 24
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The TC did not believe a company director met the repute requirements and that maintenance arrangements were in place.
A BID FOR AN 0-licence by Burybased Sprint Transport has been turned down by North-Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell because of connections with other operators whose licences she had revoked.
The company, whose directors are Nicholas and Geraldine Light, had sought a three-vehicle national licence.
Nicholas Light had been a director of JJC Logistics and company secretary of Deliverall Direct, both of which had been investigated by HM Revenue & Customs.
The TC had revoked the licences for 12 vehicles and 12 trailers held by BC Logistics, the licences for five vehicles and nine trailers held by Deliverall Direct, both of which had gone into administration, and the licences for three vehicles and one trailer held by transport manager Richard Ellis, trading as Stateline Haulage, which had been made bankrupt. They were called before the TC because of their unsatisfactory maintenance records, significant breaches of drivers' hours and tachograph rules and the employment of drivers without valid HGV licences. She disqualified the two companies, their directors and Ellis from holding an 0-licence indefinitely.
Light said he had no real knowledge of what was happening in the two companies and that they were run by Ellis. In September 2007, he was arrested by HM Customs & Excise, which conducted a search of the premises and seized his mobile phone and some documents. He had heard nothing since. He wrote a letter to Ellis resigning on 18 April 2008. but it was delayed until the 29 May 2008 because of the application to set up Sprint Transport.
He said he was operating a couple of Sprinter vans and had bought a tractor unit, which was being operated by Heywood-based Joe Ridley on his 0-licence.
On the second day of the hearing, the TC said that enquiries made with Lombard Finance revealed Light had been provided with finance on the basis that the vehicle was to be operated under the authority of the 0-licence of M May Transport.
Light denied using the vehicle, saying he had done it to get it at the right price from AA&T Commercials.
The TC said that Light, as a director of JJC Logistics and company secretary of Deliverall Direct, was responsible for the failures of those companies, despite his assertions to the contrary. He had prevaricated with regard to the acquisition of the tractor unit and its use, and she could not be sure who had been operating the vehicle. She considered she could not rely on Light to tell her the truth.