“Rogue” operator thrown out of industry

Chris Tindall
May 13, 2021

A Walsall tipper operator with a chequered history has had its O-licence revoked after displaying “wholesale non-compliance” and running double the number of authorised vehicles with no preventative maintenance. West Midlands TC Nick Denton said Barry Bernhard Taylor, trading as BT Mixer & Tipper Hire, deserved to go out of business for his “illegal and recklessly negligent way of operating” and branded him “an incorrigible rogue”.

A DVSA site visit to the sole trader’s premises found there were no vehicles specified on Taylor’s licence, nor had any vehicles ever been specified. Additionally, his vehicles were not being given periodic preventative maintenance inspections; there was no driver defect reporting system; drivers were not using tachograph cards or charts at all and four vehicles were being operated rather than the two authorised.

At a Birmingham PI, Taylor said he was running four vehicles because it was uneconomical to run two and he had not put any of them in for preventative maintenance inspections out of fear that the DVSA would discover he was operating an illegal number of trucks.

He also said he thought it wasn’t worth recording drivers’ hours because the driving was all local and would not exceed the hours. Taylor asked the TC for a chance to show him he could operate four HGVs compliantly and then he could judge him on his record, but Denton said the operator should not be in business.

In his written decision, he said: “A licence on which he was a director and transport manager was curtailed in 2010 for reasons which are similar to the shortcomings found by DVSA. After that licence was revoked in 2013 he was convicted of operating without a licence.

“Upon his sole trader licence being granted in 2015 he proceeded immediately to operate double the number of vehicles permitted, with no preventative maintenance carried out on vehicles and in complete disregard of tachograph requirements.

“Against this record, I have no hesitation in concluding that Barry Bernhard Taylor’s good repute is lost. His past history and present wholesale non-compliance demonstrate conclusively that he absolutely cannot be trusted to comply in the future,” he added.

As a result, the licence was revoked, Taylor was disqualified as a transport manager indefinitely and also from holding an O-licence indefinitely.

About the Author

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Chris Tindall

Chris Tindall started writing for the haulage and logistics industry in 2002 and has covered a broad range of significant issues, including GPS jamming by criminals, platooning and Brexit.

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