Lincs haulier's 0-licence appeal fails
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Lincoln Haulage
• The appeal against the revocation of the standard operator's licence held by Lincoln Haulage Ltd has been dismissed by the Transport Tribunal, which says that the company's overloading offences would not in the Tribunal's judgment have resulted in a finding that the appellant had failed to satisfy the LA of its good repute.
Unfortunately, says the Tribunal, those convictions occurred on each side of very serious offences of dishonesty in relation to the running of the business by Leonard Lincoln, managing director, almost sole owner and transport manager until about four weeks before the public inquiry at which the licence was revoked.
Lincoln Haulage was incorporated in 1971 and has held an &licence since then, with Leonard Lincoln as principal shareholder with 3,490 shares, and the other director, his wife, 10. In 1977 she handed on her directorship and shares to their son, Stephen, now aged 27.
In October 1986 Leonard Lincoln applied to renew the licence for 28 vehicles and 12 trailers, with 12 vehicles and six trailers to be acquired. In answer to question 10 on the application form: Have you, the Company, your partner, directors or nominated transport manager any convictions which are not spent?' he ticked the box, "No". In fact, he had three convictions for overloading with total fines of £630.
In October 1986 he pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court to four charges of dishonestly receiving stolen vehicle excise licences, four charges of making a false instrument, namely a vehicle excise licence, and four charges of using a vehicle excise licence he knew or believed to be false. He asked for 39 similar offences to be taken into consideration and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.
At the ensuing public inquiry in November 1987, the LA was told that the appellant employed 35 persons and had an annual turnover of £1.3 million. Neither the appellant, nor any of its directors or its transport manager had been involved in any criminal offence before the overloadings convictions. Following the Teesside conviction, the National Coal Board, a major customer, had refused to employ the applicant for two months and thereafter permitted it to carry out subcontract work At the time of the inquiry, the firm was working for ICI, Steetley Quarries, Sherburn Quarries and R A Young.
The 1983-84 overloading offences had occurred, it was said, when NCB slurry was too wet and moved in vehicles on a hill. The Teesside Crown Court convictions arose out of financial hardship following the miners' strike. The appellant had had hire-purchase commitments of £10,000 a month. Its overdraft facilities had been withdrawn, leaving it owing the bank some £60,000 in addition to other debts to the Inland Revenue and Customs.
Lincoln said when filling the application form he had forgotten about the overloading convictions of 1983 and '84. The 1987 overloading offences had occurred as a result of the driver assuming his vehicle was 15 tons gross instead of 14 tons.
At the appeal, John Evans, instructed by Slater, Smith, Sherwood-Smith and Co of Houghton le Spring, Tyne and Wear, submitted that the LA had failed to take into account sufficiently that Leonard Lincoln had given up acting as transport manager about four weeks before the inquiry.
The Tribunal, in a written judgment, says, however, that the appellant remained essentially a one-man company.
Secondly, says the Tribunal, Evans took issue with the LA's statement that the Teesside Crown Court offences arose because of Lincoln's dishonest attempts to redress his own fortunes rather than preserve the jobs of employees It seems to the Tribunal inevitable that Lincoln's principal consideration was his personal fortune; his shareholding by July 1986 was worth approximately £200,000.
The Tribunal says it has looked at all the matters submitted by Evans, in the light of the appellant's impeccable record until October 1983 and also took account of the fact that the overloading offences represent a minute proportion of all the loads carried by the appellant.
Leonard was also disqualified by the LA under Section 69(5) of the Transport Act 1968 from holding or obtaining an operator's licence for five years.
Evans directed no separate argument on that to the Tribunal and that part of the appeal also fails.