A Scottish operator had to be coaxed to a public inquiry (PI) in Glasgow after initially deciding not to bother because the director knew he had “totally messed up”.
Steven Hunter, director at Hunter Surfacing, eventually agreed to attend the hearing after the office of the traffic commissioner (TC) spoke to him on the phone and explained it might help his case should he wish to apply for a licence in the future.
The company had authorisation to run five HGVs out of an operating centre in Stirling, but it attracted the attention of the DVSA when one of its vehicles
was pulled over and issued with
an S-marked prohibition.
Its stop lamp was inoperative, the registration mark was illegible and did not relate to the vehicle, there wasn’t a fire extinguisher, and the driver’s licence had expired.
Hunter Surfacing agreed to have an independent audit carried out on its business, and when this highlighted serious shortcomings,
a PI was scheduled.
But the day before the hearing Hunter contacted a member of TC Claire Gilmore’s staff to say he would not be attending.
“He didn’t think there was any point,” Gilmore said in her written decision. “He knew he had totally messed up and didn’t see any merit in attending. He had stuck his head in the sand.”
However, the TC added: “Having spoken to the clerk in my office, he felt better and now understood that it was better to turn up and face the music because he might want a licence again in the future.”
Hunter told the TC he understood it was a serious case and that he had had several chances before, but his business was a mess and he needed six months to resolve the problems.
The TC said that in the absence of any evidence to show that any of the operator’s systems were fit for purpose, she found that the continued use of its lorries was a significant risk to road safety.
“Prohibitions have been issued and the operator’s attitude and level of understanding are poor. There have also been failures to comply with directions from the DVSA and my office,” she noted.
As a result, she revoked the licence and added that it was proportionate to disqualify both the operating company and director Steven Hunter from holding a licence for a year.
