A haulage boss who was disqualified for three years and had a licence application refused said he has learnt from his mistakes after the Eastern traffic commissioner finally granted him a licence.
In a written decision, TC Richard Turfitt said the regulatory system must offer a place for rehabilitation. He granted a licence for five vehicles and five trailers to Norwich-based Portman Logistics and its director Paul Oven.
Oven, along with Karon Sheppard, was disqualified for three years in 2006 following public inquiries (PIs) into the operations of Paul Oven Transport Services and Paul Oven Container Logistics. In 2009, Oven applied for a licence under the name of Portman Logistics, but was refused by Turfitt after he found that the director “would not accept responsibility for his past failings”.
However, at another hearing in July this year, the TC was impressed by the nominated CPC holder and transport manager Richard Fryer and his commitment to future compliance. He also found that Oven had “now accepted that his dealings with both [companies] were wrong”.
Oven said: “I enjoy road haulage and it’s all I have ever done. And obviously things went wrong previously, but moving forward you learn from your mistakes.”
Oven said he would attend a CPC refresher course and appoint an additional director, as well as employ a nil driver defect reporting system; undertake regular audits, tacho analysis and preventative maintenance inspections.
