West Midlands haulier K&B Transport has had its licence revoked after a string of offences was uncovered by a DVSA investigation.
A public inquiry held last week (24 April) heard that K&B, based in Oldbury, was parking a vehicle at an unauthorised operating centre even after being warned not to do so.
The firm was also not downloading data from either driver tachographs or the vehicle unit. Furthermore there was “substantial evidence of driving without using a tachograph” and the principal offender in this was sole director Kulwinder Singh Toor.
In addition convictions incurred by drivers had not been notified to the TC and transport manager Amit Taj had not exercised continuous and effective management.
Solicitor Chris Powell, representing K&B, said that Toor recognised there had been serious compliance problems and accepted the licence could not continue, not least because the company lacked financial standing and a functioning transport manager.
However Powell added that Toor was now remorseful and all that he asked was that he should be allowed to re-enter the industry at some time in the future when he would demonstrate a different attitude to compliance.
K&B held a standard national licence for two vehicles and three trailers.
TC for the West Midlands Nicholas Denton revoked the licence from 30 April, disqualified Kulwindeer Singh Toor for four years from holding any type of O-licence and ruled that Amit Raj had lost his good repute as a transport manager.
In his written judgement, the TC said: “The licence has been operated in a seriously non-compliant way. The operator has failed to park its vehicle at the authorised operating centre; its vehicles have incurred prohibitions and have not been kept roadworthy; the operator has failed to fulfil its undertakings to observe the rules on drivers’ hours and tachographs.”
