A Chesham haulier, John Hance, trading as J Hance Haulage, has been given two months to find a replacement transport manager after he was disqualified from acting in the role.
Mr Hance was qualified to act as transport manager through an Acquired Rights certificate. He was told he would need to take and pass CPC examinations before he can seek to act as a Transport Manager again.
The ruling, by East of England Traffic Commissioner, Richard Turfitt, comes after a public inquiry into Mr Hance’s operator’s licence and his repute and professional competence as a transport manager. One of the operator’s vehicles had been issued with a safety critical prohibition notice for a steered axle tyre tread worn beyond the legal limit, where the examiner found the cords exposed and broken. This was classed as a most serious infringement.
In addition, a driver failed to produce tachograph records at the roadside and the annual test failure rate was at 67% over five years. At the hearing in Cambridge on 10 February, Mr Turfitt examined a report from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (incorporating VOSA and the DSA).
It was accepted by the Traffic Commissioner that Mr Hance’s failure to produce records for inspection resulted from a period where he had ‘delegated’ his transport manager duties to an unauthorised individual, as a result of ill health. The Traffic Commissioner proceeded to consider his current compliance and found this to be unsatisfactory.
Concluding that Mr Hance’s repute as an operator had been tarnished by the vehicle examiner’s findings, the Traffic Commissioner made an order to curtail his licence from four to two vehicles. Mr Turfitt also recorded three undertakings on the licence, including that by April 2014 all existing and new drivers would have received driver walkround module training.
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