A Dewsbury bed firm which operated a vehicle without an MOT for four months has had its operator’s licence suspended for 14 days, reports the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.
Divine Sleep Ltd will not be allowed to run vehicles between 5-19th September, after a deputy traffic commissioner concluded that the firm had jeopardised road safety. Anthony Seculer ruled that a suspension of the company’s vehicle licence was necessary to “bring home to the directors and the drivers the seriousness of the situation”. He also determined that the firm’s vehicles could not be used on any other licence.
During a public inquiry in Leeds last month, the deputy commissioner heard that a driver working for the firm was stopped in January 2016 by a Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency (DVSA) examiner. The officer found that the vehicle did not have a valid MOT – it had expired on 31st October 2015.
During a follow-up interview, company director Sammer Mohammed Tariq said the vehicle was newly purchased and had not come with an MOT certificate, although the trader had claimed the vehicle did have one. Sammer admitted he had not checked whether the vehicle was tested.
Further investigations revealed other issues, including: a three-month tachograph check revealed a large amount of missing mileage; digital tachograph driver and vehicle cards had not been downloaded; the operator was not aware of how to use tachograph analysis systems; there were no systems in place to check records; and there were no systems for checking infringement, drivers’ hours or working time directive compliance.
At the inquiry, the operator provided evidence of systems that had been put in place after the visit by the DVSA examiner, along with training that had been arranged for the director and general manager.
After considering the operator’s evidence, the deputy commissioner said: “Mr Tariq has provided firm assurances that there will be a positive approach to compliance in the future. A transport consultant has been engaged to assist with systems, management and the licence, and an undertaking has been offered to keep a suitable consultant employed.”