Operators who show complacency towards licensing

There are no circumstances when a company should put their commercial interests above that of compliance or health and safety.

Time and time again we hear from operators that say they cannot do things that are essential because they need vehicles on the road, customer expectations and so on.

It is not until something happens that we often get called in to assist.  Better that some realisation occurs and normally something makes an operator think about their actions and possible consequences.

At the end of it all, if you are not compliant then you can end up with no operator licence and therefore, no business.

On the other side, it may cost you time and some money to get everything in order and systems in place, but once it is done, it is a much easier path to follow as you are thinking in a proactive way and not a reactive way.

When an operator is called to the Traffic Commissioner they only take action against operators to encourage or improve future compliance.

In serious cases they have to act accordingly and so can take the licence away to stop future operations and avoid ongoing non-compliance.

In other situations, the commissioner may take action against the licence and agree a number of measures with the operator to make sure they’ll prioritise compliance going forward.

Last year a construction company appeared before the Traffic Commissioner and made promises to improve and become compliant.

However at their second public inquiry, the construction company had their licence suspended and got them to commit to various undertakings. Again this is what happened:

Broken promises

Disappointingly, they broke those promises.

And so the business found itself back at public inquiry – for a third time.

The Deputy Commissioner had specifically warned them in 2018 about the consequences. She said the operator needed to demonstrate honesty in actions, not just words.

At the latest hearing, the company’s director admitted he got his priorities wrong.

Huge disappointment

The Deputy Commissioner said it was staggering that the company put commercial interests over compliance given its previous record.

While the state of the operation had improved, it was still significantly short of being satisfactory.

Revoking the licence, the Deputy Commissioner expressed her huge disappointment at the situation.

Trust, she added, is the cornerstone of the operator licence regime.

Following this the Director will have to live with the consequences of their actions, but as we know you cannot change what has happened and they should have taken the required action.

If you have an operator licence and want to check that all is compliant and nothing is being missed or if you are in a mess with it all, put it right today.

Please email info@totalcompliance.co.uk if you need any help or call Michelle on 07710 878041.