Two year ban for operator previously warned “fate is firmly in your own hands”

There are some cases where operators get a clear warning from a traffic commissioner about how close they've come to losing their licence.

Most of the time, it’s serious enough to make the operator take action.

Those who don’t improve their compliance find themselves back before the commissioner with a mountain to climb.

In the words of our Deputy Traffic Commissioner, Anthony Seculer, they fail to “heed the most clear and loud wake-up calls”.

Two year ban for operator previously warned “fate is firmly in your own hands”

Firm’s claim that it was ‘getting there’ isn’t good enough, says Deputy Traffic Commissioner

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He was speaking about a recent case involving a wheel loss. The incident had posed a real and serious risk of death or injury to road users, including the operator.

A DVSA inspection found the business didn’t have an effective, recorded wheel torquing procedure. The examiner reported persistent defects in daily walk round checks and said the transport manager hadn’t undertaken any CPD.

The operator also didn’t kept a promise to have laden roller brake tests at every PMI. This had been made at a previous public inquiry.

Lack of meaningful changes

The business was told at a previous inquiry that any further behaviour which undermined the integrity of the operator licensing system wouldn't be tolerated.

The Deputy Traffic Commissioner said it was only good fortune that the wheel loss incident didn’t result in a serious injury or a fatality. Even after this, the operator failed to take stock and implement any meaningful changes.

Mr Seculer pointed to a recent audit report which revealed high levels of risk across driver defect reporting, vehicle files and driver licensing.

He revoked the operator’s licence and disqualified him from holding or getting an operator’s licence for two years.

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