Haulier falsified documents after panicking

A Bristol operator whose maintenance paperwork was described as “an absolute shambles” has been kicked out of the industry after it also falsified documents.

TC Kevin Rooney said fraudulent activity within the haulage industry was rare and its inclusion as a feature in the case of Nyanza Express Transport supported his decision to disqualify both the operator and sole director Paul Mboya for a year.

Mboya was also the company’s transport manager and he was disqualified from acting as one for three years after Rooney said he had lost his good repute.

The haulier, which held a licence authorising three HGVs and three trailers, came to the DVSA’s attention in 2022 following unsatisfactory maintenance and traffic reports and the issuing of a prohibition notice for an insecure load.

Undertakings were recorded against the licence, but the operator appeared at a second public inquiry after a follow-up investigation still identified major shortcomings.

A DVSA vehicle examiner described Nyanza Express’ paperwork as an absolute shambles and he also suggested fraud had been committed among PMI records.

At a Bristol PI, Mboya accepted his record keeping was “a bit of a mess” and he also admitted to creating fraudulent records after he panicked.

However, the director asked that he did not lose his licence as it would create major issues: vehicles were still on finance and he had taken out a bounce-back loan.

But in his written decision, TC Rooney said: “Facing a DVSA inspection, Mr Mboya turned to a friend who helped him create entirely false documents to try to hide the lack of inspections and brake tests.

“They were very amateur documents unlikely to fool anyone but that does not diminish the seriousness of their production, presentation to DVSA and inclusion in the operator’s public inquiry evidence bundle.”

The TC said the fleet prohibition rate was 41%; DVSA figures showed the national average to be 12.8%, therefore its trucks were “significantly more dangerous than the norm.”

He added: “I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have come across falsified roller brake test printouts. I may need both hands to count the number of occasions of falsified maintenance records. But such fraudulent activity is rare within this important industry and its inclusion as a feature here supports a period of disqualification as an operator.”