A Perthshire haulier has been disqualified for three years and will now not be able to hold an operator’s licence in Scotland, England or Wales.
Lee Burns, of Methven, a director of Lee Burns Transport Ltd, failed to appear at the hearing held in Edinburgh, which found he had lied to the Traffic Commissioner’s Office, following a public inquiry.
He has now been disqualified for three years by Scotland’s traffic commissioner, Joan Aitken. His former transport manager, Charles White, was given a warning.
The ruling comes after the commissioner found that Mr Burns had taken “no serious steps to ensure there was professional competence” for the firm’s licence.
During the inquiry, which also considered the repute of the company’s former transport manager Mr White, Miss Aitken heard that Lee Burns Transport Ltd had failed to return paperwork about its transport manager when asked to do so.
The information was required as a result of changes introduced under EU regulations in 2011.
Transport managers are professionally qualified individuals who are appointed to a licence to oversee vehicle and driver safety standards.
In his evidence, Mr White admitted that he had not done enough to keep in touch with Lee Burns Transport Ltd, but said that he had taken Lee Burns at face value, expecting him to send tachograph charts and paperwork for analysis.
He had asked for these documents, but they were not provided. Mr White resigned from the company in 2010.
The inquiry also heard that the company’s original transport manager had left after four months because she had not been allowed to see records relating to vehicles and drivers and had also not been paid.
Prior to the hearing, Mr Burns wrote to Miss Aitken claiming that he had been let down by his transport managers and intended to act as his own transport manager.
In October 2012, he had indicated that Mr White was still acting as his transport manager.
After considering all of the evidence, the commissioner concluded that Mr Burns had lied to her office in his correspondence of October 2012.
She stated: “I find that from the date of grant (of the licence) in June 2009 to the present, this operator either did not have a transport manager in place, or when a name was in place that named transport manager was not allowed any involvement in the transport operation or its oversight.
“It is not acceptable that a company/its director engages in long-term operation without a transport manager and a background of stringing along those who work for the traffic commissioner.
“The door must close on Mr Lee Burns for a while.”
Miss Aitken said Mr White had accepted during the inquiry that he was wrong not to resign sooner. Because of that acknowledgment, and his evidence, Miss Aitken recorded a warning against his repute.
Mr White holds his own operator’s licence and indicated to the commissioner he had no intention of working for any other businesses as a transport manager.