An Irvine-based HGV operator has had its licence cut for two weeks after being hauled before two public inquiries for failing to employ a transport consultant.
Andrew Wright Windows appeared before deputy traffic commissioner (DTC) Hugh Olson at a second Edinburgh PI after the restricted goods vehicle operator did not comply with undertakings it had given at a previous hearing.
They were that the company would employ a consultant for at least six months to produce an audit report of compliance and that it would also ensure its vehicles and trailers underwent laden brake tests as part of every PMI.
At the second PI the operator accepted it had failed to carry out both undertakings: “The operator had a relationship with a transport consultant before the last public inquiry,” DTC Olson said.
“After the public inquiry that relationship continued and the transport consultant had provided training, however it was accepted that it did not constitute ‘employing a transport consultant for six months’.
“The need for an audit to be produced within six months had been overlooked despite it being on a forward planner because of people being on holiday and the general manager having Covid. The operator took steps to have an audit produced as soon as a prompt was received.”
This report showed that the company was largely compliant; however, some driver defect reports had not been signed off in a timely manner.
The audit stated: “This is not the worst operator I have seen and there is a strong willingness to get things right.”
Summing up, the DTC said it was not uncommon to see a restricted licence operator at a PI because it had failed to appreciate the requirements of the licensing system.
But he added: “What is uncommon is to see such an operator at a second public inquiry for failing to appreciate the requirements of the licensing system.
“In particular, where an operator has escaped regulatory action because it has given undertakings - the traffic commissioner had issued a strong warning - it is a serious matter when those undertakings are not fulfilled.”
However, Olson said he was giving it another chance. Halving the licence from two lorries to one, he concluded: “A short period of curtailment that can be dealt with by the operator sub-contracting the delivery of its product is appropriate in this case.”
