The Traffic Commissioner for the East of England curtailed the standard national operator’s licence held by Adrian Stuart Folbigg, trading as T & A Freight, to eight vehicles and five trailers from 23:45 on 14 July 2026.
The licence had previously authorised 12 vehicles and five trailers from an operating centre in Sandy, Bedfordshire.
Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt concluded that Folbigg, who also acted as the company’s transport manager, had failed to exercise effective and continuous management. However, both his standing as an operator and his professional repute as a transport manager were allowed to remain in place.
The decision said his repute was retained only narrowly and now “hangs by the thinnest of threads”.
The Commissioner said regulatory action was necessary to deter a repeat of the “amateurish behaviour” identified during the investigation.
Driver concealed hours across dozens of journeys
The case followed a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency investigation into driver Dean Foster, whose vehicle was stopped on 1 August 2024.
An examination of tachograph records found repeated periods in which Foster removed his driver card and continued driving. In several cases, he later entered the unrecorded period as a break.
Investigators identified incidents spanning March to July 2024. On 13 June, Foster drove for two hours and 44 minutes without his card, covering almost 200 kilometres. His total driving time that day reached nine hours and six minutes, with no recorded qualifying break.
On 29 July, he recorded more than ten hours of driving with only a 20-minute break, having twice continued driving after removing his card.
Foster admitted that the infringements and false records were deliberate. He told the hearing that his mental health had deteriorated and that he had turned to alcohol, although he had not sought medical assistance.
The Commissioner found that Foster’s persistent and habitual conduct presented a current road-safety risk. His vocational driving licence was revoked, and he was disqualified from holding vocational entitlement. The DVLA’s medical branch was also to be notified.
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Oversight delegated to an unqualified friend
Folbigg admitted that he had delegated his transport manager responsibilities to a compliance manager, Andrew Hitchin, who had no relevant qualifications or formal training.
When asked why Hitchin was considered suitable for the role, Folbigg said he was a friend.
The Commissioner said Folbigg had effectively abdicated his responsibilities and stressed that a transport manager must actively oversee compliance rather than hold the position in name only.
A DVSA visit in November 2025 found weak scheduling controls, incomplete tachograph downloads, missing mileage records, ineffective working-time oversight and no documented disciplinary or monitoring procedures.
Repeat infringements had not been properly addressed, while driver training was delivered verbally without records being retained. Folbigg had also undertaken no professional development since obtaining his transport manager CPC in 2016.
The operator said tachograph offences had been missed after an office manager left the business and nobody else knew how to use the monitoring systems.
Maintenance and financial concerns
Examiners also found weaknesses in the operator’s maintenance arrangements.
Records showed late preventative maintenance inspections, limited evidence of brake testing and inadequate recording of tyre pressures and tyre age codes. Driver-detectable defects appeared in inspection records without matching defect reports.
The Commissioner also found that the business did not meet the required level of financial standing. A four-month period of grace was granted after money was invested in the business, but the operator was warned that failure to demonstrate sufficient funds could lead to further action.
Folbigg said a series of changes had since been introduced. These included more frequent tachograph downloads, a driver disciplinary points system, 28-day driving-licence checks, documented training and brake tests at every preventative maintenance inspection.
He also completed a two-day Road Haulage Association refresher course, while his daughter, Megan Folbigg, began studying for her own transport manager CPC.
Independent audit ordered
As part of the decision, T & A Freight must commission an independent audit of its transport safety and compliance systems.
The audit is to be conducted by David Cooper of Prestige Transport Compliance & Training Ltd. The report, together with the operator’s plans for implementing its recommendations, must be submitted to the licensing authority by 30 January 2027.
A second driver, Alan Titmus, received a formal warning. He had admitted removing his tachograph card after reaching four hours and 29 minutes of driving before continuing for another 44 minutes while making a personal journey to an airport.
The Commissioner distinguished his case from Foster’s, noting that Titmus had since improved his record-keeping and demonstrated how he now documented his working and driving times.
