Hereford haulier loses licence after drivers breached hours17 April 2014

The director and transport manager of a Hereford-based haulage firm has been criticised by Nick Jones, West Midlands traffic commissioner, after a string of drivers' hours failings.

The commissioner said Alan Standring was a "woefully inadequate" transport manager, and had prioritised commercial issues over transport safety compliance.

The traffic commissioner revoked A&M Transport Hereford's 'O' licence from 30 April and disqualified Standring indefinitely from working as a transport manager.

An inquiry heard that employees had committed numerous breaches. The DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) examiner identified a total of 80 offences. She was told by two drivers that they had problems carrying out jobs within the permitted hours and felt pressurised to return vehicles to base, even if they were going to exceed their driving hours.

Another driver could not explain unaccounted mileage in the analysis of his driving records.

Standring denied the drivers' claims and insisted they had since apologised for trying to blame the company. However, the commissioner noted that Standring had not brought the drivers to the inquiry, and had no written evidence to support his assertions.

"The fact that drivers who committed serious offences were still allowed to remain on the payroll, and were regarded as having a clean slate after a conviction, is an indication of the culture of this operator – which is to put commercial advantage above the need to be compliant," he said.

The commissioner also noted that the operator's vehicles had been parked in residential areas without permission, and it had used a vehicle that was not specified on its licence.

"Most of the failings result from Alan Standring's ignorance, incompetence and his prioritisation of commercial considerations against compliance with the legislation," said Jones.

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Department for Transport

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