Operators warned: ‘be transparent or face the consequences’02 October 2013

Operator licence holders must be transparent in all their dealings with regulators or they will be dealt with "robustly". That's the warning from Sarah Bell (pictured), traffic commissioner for the Eastern traffic area.

Bell's message came as part of a written decision to revoke the licence held by Marmex and disqualify the company indefinitely from 7 November.

In this case, the licence was used by people who did not have permission to run vehicles and were prevented from doing so. Such attempts to circumvent a judicial decision, said Bell, are completely unacceptable.

The traffic commissioner said that David Lench and Michelle Barmsby had used the operator's licence held by Marmex – both of whom have been disqualified. Marmex director Terence Hall had failed to make sufficient enquiries about activities taking place in his business and, said the commissioner, lacked the knowledge or enquiring mind for a modern day CPC holder. He was also disqualified indefinitely from acting as a transport manager.

At an enquiry, the commissioner heard evidence from VOSA regarding poor vehicle maintenance standards, including the issue of S marked prohibitions. "A large number of the defects noted should have been picked up on the driver daily walk round check. Defects included safety-critical items including brakes, stop lamps and inoperative indicators," Bell added.

The traffic commissioner said there was a message for all operators: "There must be transparency in all dealings with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner and proper and effective responses to VOSA when serious failings in maintenance systems are demonstrated."

Author
Laura Cork

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.