A Kettering-based earthmoving firm will have its O-licence revoked in February after it had been “far too slow to wake-up” after intervention from the DVSA.
Lyndon Thomas was called to a public inquiry (PI) earlier this month following the discovery of numerous maintenance and drivers’ hours issues.
It first came to the DVSA’s attention in April 2017 when it attracted a prohibition for faults including the EBS warning lights and excessive movement on the steering joint.
Other faults discovered on the firm’s vehicles included loose wheel nuts; worn brake components; and the steering arm pivot being excessively worn.
The operator had decided to bring all maintenance in-house, which East of England traffic commissioner (TC) Richard Turfitt (pictured) said had not been successful as its vehicles had a low MoT pass rate.
There were also issues with inspection documentation. There was no evidence of any brake efficiency testing, including roller brake testing, and some vehicles had exceeded preventative maintenance inspection intervals.
Driver defect reporting was also not up to the required standards, with no follow-up action recorded and no records of who had been informed about the faults.
Although there was no forward planning system when a DVSA examiner visited the operator, a planning system had been introduced in October.
Some 49 defects were reported on its vehicles during an inspection in October, nine of which should have been picked up by drivers.
The TC also noted that the company had failed to comply with undertakings that prevented it from carrying out maintenance at the operating centre at the weekends and operating vehicles before 6am.
Records showed that the four-and-a-half hour driving limit had been exceeded several times, but the TC found that a number of drivers had written their explanations for the infringement on the reverse of the print out, as required.
Whilst Turfitt noted that Lyndon Thomas had made small moves towards compliance, the delay between the intervention of the examiners and the PI had been too great, with still no evidence of full compliance by the time of its PI.
The TC said: “It should not take a public inquiry to go through the basic requirements such as brake testing, not when advice has been readily available to the operator through the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness.
“I could not wait another three months on the off-chance that the operator may be able to comply with the basic requirements.”
The firm will lose its licence on 12 February 2018.
