The fine was issued at Swansea Crown Court earlier this week (11 February) after an earlier hearing at which the operator pleaded guilty to 19 offences of forgery and counterfeiting maintenance records.
Jonathan Phillips, an administrative assistant at the company, was also given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and has been ordered to pay £1,500 costs after pleading guilty to forging the records.
The sentencing follows an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), during which it found the company was forging HGV maintenance records to show that regular full vehicle examinations were being performed to meet the requirements of its O licence.
A handwriting expert identified that one person within the company was writing the false records.
DVSA’s head of national enforcement Caroline Hicks said: “This large company forged safety documents to deliberately avoid regular maintenance checks on their vehicles – this put the public and their employees at risk.
“We always pursue operators and push for the toughest penalties where there’s evidence they are cutting corners at the expense of road safety.”
