Company operated on sole trader's licence
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A WEST YORKSHIRE company that had been operating for up to six years using a sole trader's 0-licence has won its own licence, but for five vehicles rather than the eight applied for.
Mirfield-based Malcolm Stead, with an eight-vehicle licence, had been called before North Eastern Deputy Traffic Commissioner Elizabeth Perrett. His company, M Stead & Sons. had been wrongly operating on his sole trader's li
cence. The DTC was considering an application for a new licence for eight vehicles by M Stead & Sons, which was operating under interim authority Vehicle examiner Michael Mann said that a vehicle was given an 'S' immediate prohibition in May 2009 for defective brakes.
At a subsequent maintenance investigation in June he found the inspection records to be incomplete and that the inspections were not always at the agyeed intervals. There was no forward planner. He also imposed an S' marked prohibition on one vehicle for a brake defect.
Stead said he had operated vehicles for almost 50 years. A brake pad had come away from the disc on the vehicle given the 'S' marked prohibition, but it was definitely not worn. The firm's new maintenance contractor felt that it had occurred because the vehicles did not do a lot of miles. Some of the vehicles had been off the road because work dropped off at the end of 2009 and some were sold. The period between inspections was being reduced from eight to six weeks as the new maintenance contractor felt that eight weeks was too long. He had not operated as a sole trader for five or six years. His daughter-in-law had passed the CPC examination, but was not nominated as transport manager.
The DTC revoked Malcolm Stead's licence and granted the company a five-vehicle licence, saying that she did not feel confident it could cope with any more.