O-licence revoked for series of failings
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Bangla Station (Wholesale) had its licence revoked after a company driver gave a Vosa examiner false information
By Roger Brown
TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER (TC) for the West Midlands Nick Jones has revoked the O-licence of Birminghambased food wholesale business Bangla Station (Wholesale) after a driver employed by the company gave false details to a Vosa examiner during a routine stop.
At a September public inquiry in Birmingham, the TC was told that a truck being driven by Junaid Ziarab was stopped by the officer in June 2011. Ziarab confirmed that he was employed by Bangla Station, but gave the name, date of birth and address of Gulfraz Farid, a director at the business. On being asked to produce tachograph records, he produced two tachographs in Farid’s name.
Ziarab eventually told Vosa that he was employed by Bangla Station as a labourer and driver, six days a week, but was unable to produce any records to confirm this. The officer issued fixed penalty notices to Ziarab for insufficient weekly rest and for two mode switch offences. It also transpired that he did not hold a category of licence authorising him to drive the lorry.
On the instructions of Vosa officers, Bangla Station sent another driver, Sarfaraz Rafiq, to collect the vehicle, who told them he had driven the previous day. Rafiq was unable to produce his tachograph record sheet for driving, however, so the Vosa staff did not allow him to drive the vehicle away.
Bangla Station then put forward the name of a companion of Rafiq as a possible driver, but a DVLA check showed him as not holding a licence to drive any vehicle.
In October 2011, Vosa wrote to Bangla Station – authorised for three vehicles – instructing it to produce all drivers’ hours records for the period 1 May 2011 to 31 July 2011, as well as drivers’ driving licences by 11 November 2011.
No response was received, although when Rabnawaz Farid – another director – was interviewed by Vosa, he claimed that the business had moved offices and misplaced the records.
He said: “I meant to ring you and inform you I could not find them, but it’s been misplaced.” A subsequent Vosa investigation discovered that: • there had been use of an operating centre without permission; • the operator had failed to check driving licences; • there were no records to show compliance with Working Time Directive regulations; • the operator had picked up a safetycritical prohibition notice and a conviction for an overloaded vehicle.
The TC said: “I find that the operator knew that Junaid Ziarab did not have authority to drive the registered vehicle, and told him to falsify records and provide false details to any enforcement body that stopped him at the roadside. The lack of records could hide other offences. The failure to provide tachograph records as required is serious – there was no explanation until formal interview. This is unacceptable as I expect any good operator to respond promptly to legitimate requests by enforcement bodies.”
False records
The operator was found to be complicit in falsification of records and had failed to demonstrate compliance with the O-licensing requirements.