The decision was made due to the conclusion that the company and both transport managers are “no longer of good repute”. The conclusion itself was based on a number of findings concerning maintenance and safety shortcomings, as well as the company’s inability to address them.
As explained by Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain, Proctor & Son Haulage Ltd applied for an increase from 13 to 20 vehicles in February of this year. This triggered an investigation by DVSA, who reported an unsatisfactory level of compliance.
Besides numerous instances of maintenance records being falsified and safety checks not being deployed, there were “14 notable instances” in which the haulier’s drivers had driven without their tachograph cards. In one case, a driver had driven for 400km and 8 hours without his/her tachograph card inserted.
Following the result of the investigation, a public enquiry was launched. Some of the findings the enquiry were as follows:
- The company’s MOT initial failure rate since the 2019 public inquiry was 44%
- Vehicles failed on a wide variety of issues, including steering, brakes systems and components, suspension and road wheels and hubs
- Brake tests were carried out only very infrequently, less than the minimum frequency of 12 weeks
- The company failed to keep its promise, made on application, that its vehicles would be given a safety inspection every six weeks
- The company’s fitter was deemed “incompetent” and acted as though he had been “a law unto himself”
- The company’s transport manager made false maintenance records
Due to all of the above, director Philip Arthur Proctor has been disqualified indefinitely from holding or obtaining an operator’s licence in the future. He has also been disqualified from being directors of any company holding or obtaining such a licence.
In addition, fellow-director and Gary Philip Proctor, together with statutory director Lee Henry Proctor, have both been disqualified for a 5-year period.
“The complete lack of interest in his responsibilities shown by Philip Arthur Proctor, and his failure to make the required improvements to compliance over a very extended period of time, means that I am very reluctant to see him ever act as a transport manager again. I am disqualifying him from acting as such for an indefinite period of time,” said Nicholas Denton, Deputy Traffic Commissioner.
Regarding Gary Philip Proctor, Denton added:
“I have a little more sympathy for Gary Philip Proctor: he has been put in place as managing director but not in practice permitted to exercise that function properly (although a more forceful person would have done so). But as a transport manager he has failed dismally, and his conduct in falsifying maintenance records has been reprehensible. I am disqualifying him as a transport manager for the period of five years, to reflect the period of disqualification as a director. GPP needs a substantial period away from transport manager and/or director responsibilities in order to slowly rebuild his good repute, level of knowledge and force of character if he ever wishes to act as a transport manager again.”
In damning verdict, Deputy Traffic Commissioner ruled that there was no chance of Proctor & Son Haulage Ltd changing its ways:
“Given that the company had its licence curtailed for 28 days at the public inquiry in 2019 yet three years later was found by DVSA to have made no improvement, and given that the company has resorted to falsifying maintenance records, I conclude that the answer is highly unlikely. I have zero confidence that this company will, with its current directors and other personnel, comply in the future.”
Photo: Alf van Beem, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)
