A Birmingham operator who repeatedly employed transport managers that failed to do their jobs effectively, and who used a trailer even after being warned not to, has had his licence revoked.
Zak Khan-Siddiq began operating in 2018 with just one truck, but by the time he appeared before deputy traffic commissioner (TC) Nick Denton at a public inquiry (PI) in May 2023, he had appointed six transport managers and was undertaking haulage with a trailer when his licence did not specify that.
Transport consultant Charlie Ahmed admitted to the TC that his client’s maintenance record was “a disaster” after Denton heard evidence of how there were no procedures in place to download or analyse drivers’ hours and tachograph data; there was no maintenance forward planner in place; and there were no tyre or wheel management systems in place.
In his written decision, TC Denton said: “I find that none of the five predecessors of the current transport manager Mr Farooq has exercised continuous and effective management of the transport side of the business.
“One sent her partner instead; another never met Mr Khan-Siddiq. None seems to have instituted an effective drivers’ hours monitoring regime, a brake-testing regime, or a system for retaining maintenance records.
“Mr Khan-Siddiq must have been aware that the nominated TMs were not continuously and effectively managing compliance and were little more than names on his licence, but he took no meaningful action to address this poor performance.”
The TC added that sole trader Khan-Siddiq also lacked the financial standing for one truck and that only in the three weeks before the PI did funds reach the £8,000 threshold required for his licence.
“He seems to have embarked upon the world of operator licensing without the slightest idea of what is involved and without any knowledge of the function and purpose of a transport manager,” Denton said. “He did not inspire confidence in me that he could be relied upon to get things right from now on.”
The licence was revoked, but the TC said that as it was the operator’s first PI, and because he considered that the failings stemmed more from ignorance and incompetence rather than a deliberate decision not to comply, he only disqualified Khan-Siddiq for 12 months.
