A haulage boss lost his licence to run lorries and was disqualified for two years after the police wrote to the traffic commissioner (TC) detailing an offence of having no insurance for one of its vehicles.
CTL Transport was already scheduled to appear at a public inquiry (PI) in the Eastern Traffic Area after the DVSA conducted a maintenance investigation and concluded it was unsatisfactory.
Failings found during the probe included use of an unauthorised operating centre by the Grays operator, the absence of evidence of PMI records and driver defect reporting systems, a poor annual test history among the fleet of five vehicles and 10 trailers, and a vehicle without an MoT.
CTL’s boss Wayne Campbell wrote to the TC reassuring him improvements would be made,
but deputy TC John Baker decided a PI should still take place.
However, before it went ahead, the Metropolitan Police contacted the TC’s office with documentation: “This detailed an offence of no insurance in relation to one of the authorised vehicles, a further offence of no test certificate for a vehicle, and confirmation that an unauthorised operating centre had been in use,” he said. “A request to produce relevant documentation to the police had also not been provided.”
Campbell wrote to the TC stating that he understood the seriousness of the situation and that he had decided to stop trading and wind
up his business.
He also said he knew the licence would be revoked, but if he was to be disqualified, would the period be as short as possible.
Deputy TC Baker said: “There is an absence of evidence to show financial standing, an absence of evidence to show undertakings are being complied with, and the original findings of the DVSA investigation are made worse by the documentation sent in by Police Sergeant Beckers.
“The only positive I can find is the acceptance by Mr Campbell of the situation and his decision to cease operating.”
As a result, he revoked the licence immediately and disqualified the boss for two years:
“I also order that the repute of Wayne Campbell as transport manager is lost, and I therefore am obliged to disqualify him from acting in that capacity and I so order for a period of two years,”
he added.
