DVSA poacher turned gamekeeper disqualified as transport manager

A former DVSA officer who became transport manager at a Cornish haulage operation has been disqualified after a traffic commissioner found he had not exercised the most basic of control.

Anthony Brayley-Willmetts appeared before TC Kevin Rooney as transport manager of Gillbard Plant, which had been the subject of a DVSA investigation after relying on an unauthorised operating centre.

The investigation revealed a range of failings at the haulier, including the completion of safety inspection reports, a poor MOT pass rate and no wheel or tyre management policy being in place.

The DVSA vehicle examiner concluded that the two listed transport managers, Brayley-Willmetts and O-licence holder Zena Gillbard, were not exercising proper control.

At the subsequent public inquiry Gillbard told the TC that she had recently qualified as a transport manager and so they had retained the services of Brayley-Willmetts to ensure she was doing things correctly.

Brayley-Willmetts said he had previously worked for the DVSA for 12 years on testing, roadside and training and had also been a fleet engineer for Somerset County Council.

In his written decision, Rooney said the operator had been parking at an unauthorised site, but there were mitigating features in that the location was itself an operating centre and Gillbard Plant was also using its main site.

However, vehicles had not been keep fit and serviceable and the more serious of the adverse findings were down to poor transport management and so Gillbard’s repute was tarnished.

Turning to Brayley-Willmetts, the TC said: “The issues identified by the vehicle examiner are basic and fundamental.

“A DVSA inspection should not be finding them on a two-vehicle licence where he had been transport manager since February 2022.

“The operator trusted Mr Brayley-Willmetts to upload their compliance documentation. He failed to do so.”

He added: “Mr Brayley-Willmetts has not exercised the most basic of control, seeking instead to rely on DVSA to identify shortcomings that he will then discuss with the maintenance provider, when he gets round to it some weeks or months in the future.

“That is not what is expected of a transport manager and it is not good enough.”

The operator was issued with a strong warning of the need to ensure full compliance and Brayley-Willmetts was disqualified from acting as a transport manager for a year.