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Operator's licence cut from 25 trucks to 10

24th July 2008, Page 22
24th July 2008
Page 22
Page 22, 24th July 2008 — Operator's licence cut from 25 trucks to 10
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Recovery firm's trailer was prohibited at the scene of a fatal accident

A RECOVERY operator which had a trailer prohibited while attending a fatal accident has had its licence cut from 25 vehicles and 25 trailers to 10 vehicles and 10 trailers. The company had committed other maintenance offences, and had run a separate skip hire business without an 0-licence.

Derbys-based Glossop Motors appeared before the North Western Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell. She ruled director and transport manager Paul Goddard has lost his repute as a transport manager, and gave the firm six months to appoint a replacement.

Vehicle examiner Martin Garlick said that in 2007, three vehicles and a trailer were given prohibitions, the trailer having an immediate 'S' marked prohibition for loose wheelnuts.

He had visited in June 2007 and March 2008. In 2007, there was no driver defect reporting system and maintenance records were incomplete. In 2008, a driver defect reporting system had been put in place but was not being used correctly. Details were still missing from the inspection records. The company carried out maintenance for other operators and the site was a station for the light vehicle testing scheme. He noticed skip vehicles operating out of the yard in AWD Skip Hire livery. Enquiries revealed they were registered to Andrew Williams and specified on the Glossop Motors licence.

Director and transport manager Paul Goddard said it had been the practice for drivers to report defects verbally. In March, written records of reported defects were done centrally. They now had individual defect books in the vehicles.

He gave an undertaking to appoint an additional transport manager by 1 August, one of whose responsibilities would be vehicle maintenance. He had sold the vehicles engaged on general haulage to Jason Coombes who had been running that side of the business for some time. Around January 2007, he went into partnership with Williams in a skip hire business, run by Williams.

In June 2007 the partnership was dissolved. Glossop Motors was now operating the skip vehicles. He said he had not realised the partnership required a separate 0-licence.

Vehicle examiner Bernard Unwin said he had attended the scene of a fatal accident in February at which Glossop Motors had been asked by the police to recover a car and laden tipper. He saw that an inner tyre was underinflated on the low-loader trailer being used to recover the tipper and was concerned the outer tyre would blow out. He prohibited the trailer until the defect was rectified.

The tipper was taken to Bredbury test station on a different trailer which Unwin thought was overloaded. He noticed the test certificate showed an expired date.

Goddard said they had been police recovery agents for about 28 years. He had checked the 12 tyres on the trailer before it went out. At the scene it was realised they would be overloaded and a request that the tipper's load be taken off was refused. The driver was instructed to proceed at low speed but the vehicle examiner said he could not. The second trailer was a special types trailer exempt from testing.

The TC said it was unforgivable for an operator not to have a proper written driver defect reporting system and to not record defects and their rectification on the inspection records. •


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