Failure to Supervise Incompetent Transport Manager Nearly Leads to Loss of Licence at Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry

This Operator was called into a Traffic Commissioner’s Public Inquiry owing to a string of prohibitions and an unsatisfactory DVSA visit which indicated a poor maintenance regime and a slovenly attitude to daily defect inspections. At Public Inquiry the Operator was represented by Barrister Harry Bowyer. Whilst it was quite apparent that had the Transport Manager been exercising continuous and effective control the state of affairs which led to the Public Inquiry would never have existed the Traffic Commissioner was very concerned that the Operator’s lack of supervision meant that the company’s failings went undiscovered.

The Operator engaged a firm of competent Transport Consultants who began to put things right but the Transport Manager was beyond redemption. He had admitted to the DVSA that he was not up to the job, he did not understand how the tachograph analysis software worked and had no idea how to conduct a daily defect inspection. He had not made any real attempt to upgrade his knowledge.

At the Public Inquiry the Transport Manager lost his repute but the operator was allowed to keep his licence subject to a curtailment and undertakings.

Moral: The buck stops with the operator if the operation is not regulatorily compliant. It is not enough to delegate the running of the operation to a Transport Manager without making sure that they are doing the job properly.