A Sutton Coldfield haulier which claimed an AdBlue emulator was fitted to one of its vehicles while it was on hire to another company has had its O-licence suspended for a week.
Traffic Commissioner Nicholas Denton said that on the balance of probabilities, Bridmin fitted the device to its lorry and he struggled to see any motivation for Wales Environmental to do so while it was hiring the vehicle.
The lorry was stopped at the roadside by the DVSA in April 2018 and the emulator was found fitted to it.
At a Birmingham PI, Bridmin said the vehicle had been repaired by a DAF dealer, Imperial Commercials, on 12 March 2018 and no trace of it was found then.
The same vehicle was repaired on 27 March by the same dealer and the AdBlue device was discovered then.
However, Imperial insisted that Bridmin requested it was left in situ – a claim denied by the haulier, which said it must have been fitted between 12 and 27 March, when Wales Environmental had the vehicle on hire.
Imperial depot manager Martin Jones remained adamant that the dealership had spoken to someone at Bridmin who told them to leave the emulator in place.
In his written decision, the TC said: “I struggle to see why Imperial should invent such a claim if it were not true, since Bridmin not Wales Environmental was their regular customer whom they would be unlikely to alienate by making serious but untrue allegations.”
Taking into account Bridmin was otherwise compliant, Denton suspended the licence and said the repute of transport manager David Bridges had been tarnished.
