Chris Tindall - Commercial Motor

Chris Tindall

Chris Tindall started writing for the haulage and logistics industry in 2002 and quickly realised there was enough going on to keep him busy for a very long time. He’s covered a broad range of significant issues, including GPS jamming by criminals, platooning, Brexit and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lack of safe and secure lorry parks and he helped secure the release of a lorry driver in a Polish jail due to misuse of the European Arrest Warrant.

Follow the author

Record number of freight customers seek customs support from Derry Bros

Freight customs specialist Derry Bros said it had achieved strong growth last year with a record number of hauliers and forwarders requiring support for the movement of goods between the UK and Europe.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 29, 2026

Sheds scale new heights as online retail alters storage needs

A 50% increase in the height of warehouses over the last 20 years has been driven by the growth in e-commerce

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 23, 2026

Turnover and profits increase at Cambridgeshire’s Bretts

Bretts Transport has hailed its resilience and ability to adapt during shifting supermarket demand and wider economic pressures after it reported significant increases in its revenue and profits.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 20, 2026

Loss of major contract led to Lancashire haulier’s closure

Earl Transport in Accrington collapsed after almost 30 years of trading when its largest customer enforced “uneconomical” restrictions on a contract and then withheld a £156,000 payment, new documents revealed.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 16, 2026

Inspection failings led to forklift death

A delivery driver for a West Yorkshire plant company was killed when he reversed a forklift with maintenance defects onto a trailer and it fell from the trailer bed.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 12, 2026

Recycling company and haulage subsidiary sold out of administration

A West Midlands scrap metal recycling company and its transport division have been sold in a pre-packaged administration deal that saves 39 jobs.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

January 9, 2026

Operator with long-standing issues fails in licence bid

An application to run an HGV out of a Preston operating centre has been refused after the traffic commissioner highlighted links to previously revoked licences

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

January 8, 2026

Licence cut after compliance failings emerge

A removals firm in Morecambe has had its licence curtailed and transport manager disqualified after a public inquiry revealed serious regulatory shortcomings

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

January 7, 2026

Appeal tribunal finds operator displayed ‘rank incompetence and significant ignorance’

A Gloucestershire operator has failed to overturn the loss of its licence after a tribunal dismissed an appeal brought by the company and its director

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

January 2, 2026

Removing jury trials raises questions of fairness and transparency

A law firm specialising in road transport cases has warned that scrapping jury trials will hit professional drivers the most and erode the country’s justice system

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

January 1, 2026

Royal Mail under fire for “dreadful” festive service

Royal Mail failed to deliver post on time to an estimated 16 million people over Christmas, research conducted by Citizens Advice found.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

December 29, 2025

Driver jailed for fatal overtaking manoeuvre

A parcel delivery driver has been jailed for six years after dangerously overtaking another vehicle on a B road in Lincolnshire and killing a seven-year-old car passenger.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 19, 2025

Company continued to run HGVs despite revocation

The licence held by West Yorkshire-based BTW Transport has been revoked after a public inquiry concluded the company repeatedly failed to meet road-worthiness and compliance standards

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 17, 2025

Long list of compliance gaps at Yorkshire haulier

A Sheffield operator has had its licence revoked and a pending fresh application refused after demonstrating persistent failures and inadequate responses

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 15, 2025

Arrest for lorry driver attempting to evade police

An HGV driver who pulled off the M5 and drove through a carpark in order to avoid a police vehicle inspection struck two cars before re-joining the motorway and getting arrested.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 13, 2025

Licence lost after compliance pledge fails to materialise

An Essex-based international operator has lost its operator licence after the traffic commissioner found maintenance and management failings.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 11, 2025

Failings lead to loss of TC’s trust

A haulage company in Brentwood that operated without a transport manager for six months and relied on an unauthorised operating centre in a traffic area it had no licence at all, has been disqualified.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 10, 2025

Driver sustains serious injuries in fall from trailer

A manufacturing company has been fined £80,000 after a visiting HGV driver sustained a brain injury when he fell from a trailer during loading operations at a site in County Durham

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 5, 2025

HGV driver admits falling asleep in M6 collision

A lorry driver from Greater Manchester has been jailed after his vehicle was in collision with a motorist on the M6 and caused life-changing injuries.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 4, 2025

TC refuses restricted licence application

The traffic commissioner has revoked the licence of a Herts-based sole trader and rejected the application for a restricted licence for a linked business, citing serious concerns over transparency, financial fitness and regulatory compliance.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

December 3, 2025

Police use unmarked HGV to spot offences

West Midlands police described the actions of an ADR driver on the motorway holding a cup in one hand and a spoon in the other while eating a meal as “shocking”.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 28, 2025

Prison for lorry driver who accelerated into line of traffic

A lorry driver that failed to brake for traffic on the A27 in Sussex and crashed into a line of vehicles at more than 50mph has been jailed for causing serious injury by dangerous driving

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 27, 2025

TC’s decision to refuse application ruled unfair

An operator that had its variation application refused on the basis that its newspaper advertisement was outside the permitted timeframe has won an appeal after a tribunal called the decision “procedurally unfair”

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 26, 2025

Middlesbrough haulier fined after devanning death

A haulage company in the North East has been fined a quarter of a million pounds after one of its employees died while working in a shipping container.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 21, 2025

Rural crime in the spotlight as thefts rise

Lorry drivers were among those pulled over by the police and the DVSA focusing on rural crime in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire last month

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 21, 2025

Scams using AI receipts for expenses on the rise

Google searches for ‘AI receipts’ have soared by 340% in the last three months, as more employees look to take advantage of AI-generated scams, a recent study has found.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

November 20, 2025

Benton Bros posts pre-tax loss before bowing out of haulage

Benton Bros made a £282,000 pre-tax loss shortly before it sold off its haulage division earlier this year, newly filed accounts showed.

Industry News - Chris Tindall

November 19, 2025

Operator failed to notify TC of ‘blatant criminal activity’

An “arrogant and bullish” operator that failed to inform the traffic commissioner of his conviction for running an illegal waste site in Lincolnshire has been disqualified.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 17, 2025

Biffa fined almost £2.5m for reversing fatality

Biffa Waste Services has been fined £2.48m after one of its operatives was run over and killed by a reversing lorry.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 14, 2025

Expert casts doubt on HGV driver’s motorway conviction

A lorry driver has had his conviction for driving without due care and attention on the M5 referred to the crown court after an expert report cast doubt on whether any offence took place.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 13, 2025

Complex business arrangements prompt regulatory scrutiny

The traffic commissioner has granted operating licences to two connected companies following a detailed public inquiry into their complex management arrangements and structures, after they committed to clearer governance and compliance.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 12, 2025

Truck driver was seven times over drug drive limit

An HGV driver has been disqualified for 17 months after he was found to be more than seven times over the drug drive limit

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 7, 2025

Suspected fly tipper arrested in multi-agency op

A man has been arrested and two tipper trucks seized as part of a multi-agency investigation into organised waste crime across the south east

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 6, 2025

Disqualified operator posed risk to road users

The traffic commissioner for the East of England has revoked the licence held by an international operator based in Wellingborough after finding it had relied on an unauthorised operating centre.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 5, 2025

HGV drivers caught not wearing seatbelts

Truck drivers on the M1 wearing high visibility tabards to cover up for missing seatbelts were caught and fined by police in Nottinghamshire this month

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

November 3, 2025

Road rage trucker jailed after stabbing incident

A truck driver who brutally stabbed a fellow driver multiple times in a road rage attack has been jailed for 22 months

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 31, 2025

“One of the very worst cases” operator kicked out of industry

The traffic commissioner has revoked the licence of a Hereford operator after a DVSA probe produced one of the worst scoring maintenance investigation reports (MIVR) he had ever seen.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 30, 2025

Life changing injuries after skip company workplace accident

A skip hire firm in Worcester has been fined £160,000 after a loading shovel bucket fell onto a maintenance worker and fractured his ribs, leg, foot and pelvis.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 17, 2025

Fine for haulage firm after unlawful waste movements

Four firms and a haulier have been fined more than £70,000 after allowing thousands of lorries to move waste from housing developments and dump it in Suffolk.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 16, 2025

‘Wide range of negative features’ results in operator’s disqualification

A sole trader in Sheffield has had his licence revoked and been disqualified indefinitely after the traffic commissioner found he had run away from his responsibilities and failed to control his operation.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 15, 2025

Distracted trucker jailed after causing death by dangerous driving

A lorry driver who killed a motorist on the M58 when he was scrolling through social media apps on his phone has been jailed for 10 years

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 10, 2025

Haulier wins appeal against revocation decision

A Bolton haulage operator has successfully appealed against a decision to revoke its international licence after a tribunal found the traffic commissioner was “plainly wrong”

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 9, 2025

Management ill-equipped to manage drivers’ hours

Failures at Liverpool-based Climax Scaffolding were significant, long-standing and caused a risk to road safety, according to the North West traffic commissioner and so he revoked its licence

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 8, 2025

No confidence company would comply with regs

A deputy traffic commissioner in the Eastern region has revoked the licence of a metal recycler in Harlow and refused its director’s application to run eight vehicles under a second licence.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 6, 2025

Sentence for road rage attack on lorry driver

A man that climbed up the side of an HGV cab and attacked the driver, a man in his 70s, has been sentenced for common assault by beating.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 6, 2025

Scaffolding firm displayed ‘serious failure’ to meet undertakings

A company that relied on an unauthorised operating centre for over a year, did not notify the traffic commissioner it had changed maintenance provider, or that its director had been disqualified from driving, has had its licence revoked

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 2, 2025

Licence application fails on safety grounds

A construction company in Liverpool has had its application to run a lorry and two trailers refused after a traffic commissioner said the operating centre posed a road safety risk.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 2, 2025

HGV driver sentenced after Pearl Truck Stop death

A lorry driver has received a suspended jail sentence after he fatally struck another HGV driver who was trying to guide him through a narrow gap.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 2, 2025

Driver CPC offences results in firm’s disqualification

An international operator in Leicestershire that allowed its drivers to work without valid driver CPCs has had its licence revoked and its director disqualified.

Compliance News - Chris Tindall

October 2, 2025