A Fife pallet firm owner is to be stripped of his transport licence following a probe into how he operated his business.
Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner concluded that Peter Henderson, trading as City Pallets out of Burnside Works in Kinglassie, had been “self-serving” and showed continued ignorance about vehicle roadworthiness and maintenance matters at a public inquiry earlier this year.
Mr Henderson appeared before industry regulator Joan Aitken after the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) launched an investigation into his practices.
The probe concluded he had just over 17,000km of mileage missing from records and committed numerous drivers’ hours offences in relation to weekly rest, insufficient daily rest and exceeding daily driving time – all governed by rules designed to prevent drivers from working while tired.
Inspectors also found he failed to record breaks, making it difficult for DVSA officers to identify if he was taking sufficient breaks; operated an overloaded vehicle on March 20 in Perth; drove without a digital card which is legally required to use to record driving and other work for 14 days while waiting for a replacement; and failed to make manual records as required by law while waiting for the replacement.
The investigation also noted he did not have a company card to download information from his vehicle and had poor maintenance standards, given that vehicles failed MOTs on multiple items.
Miss Aitken concluded: “It is extraordinary that a driver of Mr Henderson’s length of experience should be so deficient in his understanding of what is required – unless, of course, his lack of understanding is deliberate and self-serving which must be a possibility in this case given his passivity.”
In evidence to the Traffic Commissioner over two hearings, Mr Henderson said he had no explanation for the missing records and accepted that he had difficulties with his tachographs.
He had thought he could drive for 40 miles every day without a tachograph.
Despite being interviewed twice by a DVSA traffic examiner, Mr Henderson also said he had not realised how serious the situation was.
He told the Commissioner that suspension of his licence was likely to shut the business as there was a lot of competition.
However, in a written decision issued after the inquiry, Miss Aitken remarked: “It is not for me to save his business or his licence.
“I cannot allow him continuing ‘catch up’ when the rules are there to keep us all safe and to have a level playing field.
“Why should he get this pallet work? Why shouldn’t it go to other operators who know and obey the drivers’ hours rules and have their breaks and rest and get their vehicles through the annual test?
“I do think he has been self-serving and has rested in self-serving ignorance rather than checking his understandings.
“Is this muddle or fiddle? It could be both. By not having true records he has brought suspicions of it being ‘fiddle’.
“I think there is a fair chance it has suited him not to produce or keep all of his charts.”
The operator’s licence held by Mr Henderson will be revoked with immediate effect from 11.59pm on August 11. Mr Henderson will also be disqualified from the same date for four months.
