Adams warned about non-notification
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• Grangemouth-based Duncan Adams was warned about a "persistent refusal" to notify convictions to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner, when the company appeared at disciplinary proceedings in Stirling.
Traffic Commissioner Keith Waterworth made it plain that a failure to notify convictions within 28 days of their occurrence was a contravention of a licence condition and a ground for revocation of the company's international licence for 77 vehicles and 200 trailers.
He pointed out that Adams had been fined last November for failing to notify convictions; action had finally been taken because the Traffic Area had been writing to the company since 1984 without the desired result.
Accepting that he had no excuse, managing director Duncan Adams said he just did not know why it constantly slipped his mind to notify the Commissioner.
Asked to explain the convictions, which were mostly for overloading, Adams blamed the nature of the work. He said that the company was engaged in dock work and had frequently been caught out by incorrect weights shown in bills of lading and Customs documentation. The dock weighbridges were not always open and in any event did not weigh single axles. The company was trying out onboard weighing devices on two trailers, at a cost of 27,000.
He said that the company had worked out of docks all over the UK and had trailer pools in Northern Ireland, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge.
All the maintenance work was carried out at Grangemouth; the problem was getting the trailers in the right place at the right time. The maintenance programme was about to be computerised and the company was 75% of the way to achieving BS5750.
Taking no action except to issue a formal warning, Waterworth said that despite the issue of 34 prohibitions over the past five years, he was satisfied that Adams took maintenance seriously.