Revocation for lack of transport manager
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PK Transport had its O-licence revoked for running a vehicle without authority and not having a transport manager for more than a decade
By Roger Brown
HALESOWEN OPERATOR PK Transport has had its O-licence revoked after it was found to have operated a vehicle without authority and did not have a transport manager for more than a decade.
At a public inquiry (PI) in Birmingham earlier this month, the trafic commissioner (TC) for the West Midlands, Nick Jones, also disqualiied company boss Paul Alan Kelly – who failed to attend the hearing – from operating for two years. Kelly had held a licence trading as PK Transport since 2001, with authority to operate one vehicle.
The PI was told how a Vosa trafic examiner stopped a truck travelling along the A40 in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire in June 2011.
Its driver conirmed he was employed by Kelly, however, the vehicle was found to be displaying a licence disc in the name of another business.
The TC was told at the PI that Kelly had taken advantage of the fact that the business he hired this vehicle from had made an innocent mistake in not removing their own licence disc.
After checking the driver’s records and making further enquiries, the trafic examiner contacted Kelly. He then denied employing the driver on the day and indicated he had no connection to the company named on the vehicle identity disc.
Kelly later admitted he had operated a vehicle without authority and conirmed he knew that his licence did not permit him to do so.
But he rejected the offence of displaying a licence disc with the intention of deceiving the authorities, saying he had not been aware of the rules.
The examiner’s investigations also found that Kelly had parked his vehicle at an unauthorised location – despite a previous warning to cease doing so – and had operated without a transport manager for the majority of the duration of the licence.
TC Jones ruled that Kelly was no longer able to satisfy the requirement to have an effective and stable establishment – a provision brought in under EU regulations implemented in the UK in December 2011.
Under this requirement, operators are expected to keep core business records, such as personnel iles and documents containing driving time and rest data, at an established address.
In his conirmation of the decision, Jones concluded that Kelly had used a disc with the intention of deceiving enforcement authorities and took advantage of the fact that the business he hired the vehicle from had made an innocent mistake in not removing their own licence disc.
The TC added: “[Kelly] operated without a transport manager for well over a decade. This gave him a signiicant commercial advantage and also explains the lack of understanding of his responsibilities.”
Effective and stable
The TC referred to regulations implemented in December last year, which require hauliers to satisfy the requirement to have an “effective and stable establishment”.