Contractor had no licence for a year
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by Derren Hayes 11 An owner-driver operating for express freight carrier Europa has been suspended after it was discovered he had been running without an 0licence for nearly a year.
Sub-contractor Brian Colyer operated two 38-tonne Mercedes from Europa's head depot at Erith, Kent for a year before it was realised he was running under somebody else's licence.
Now Europa, which operates 300 trailers from Erith alone, has tightened up driver licence and vehicle checks at all nine of its depots.
Colyer, who had been a staff driver for Europa for a number of years, thought that by running under a fellow sub-contractor's licence he would be covered. However, he later discov
ered this licence had expired after his former colleague had gone into voluntary liquidation and ceased operating.
"It was my own fault," says Colyer, "but I know other people who do it and because of that I thought it must be OK."
Europa says it has a strict appraisal system under which sub-contractors cannot begin operating until they have filled in a form giving all their licence and medical details. However, Colyer failed to fill in the 0licence section at his appraisal a year ago. Europa general manager Clive Brooks says: "I don't know how it was missed."
Colyer has applied for an interim licence until he sits his CPC exam in early January and Europa say it will welcome him back if he is successful.