Lack of trust leads to licence revokation17 December 2013

A Birmingham haulage firm has lost its licence to operate HGVs this week after the West Midlands traffic commissioner Nick Jones said he could not determine who was in control of the business.

The directors of Masons Logistics, brothers Andrew and Robert Cecil, both told the regulator they were sole director at an initial hearing in May, and both said the other was not a legitimate company director. They repeated their claims at a subsequent hearing in September.

The enquiry was called after an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. Two of the company's vehicles were issued with prohibition notices at the roadside, prompting a site visit, during which a DVSA examiner found a trailer with a longstanding brake defect.

The traffic commissioner noted other prohibitions had been issued prior to this.

He was told by the examiner that the recent appointment of a transport manager had resolved most of the shortcomings with maintenance paperwork, but the commissioner said the brothers had created "a chaotic state of affairs" by removing and adding vehicles online from the licence, creating "difficulties and confusion" for his office and for DVSA.

"The fact that I was unable to determine who had legitimate control of the business means that I cannot trust the operator," he said, adding that it was "appropriate, proportionate and inevitable" that the operator's licence should be revoked.

Author
Laura Cork

Related Companies
Department for Transport

This material is protected by MA Business copyright
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.