Key points
- PS Haulage Limited’s licence was revoked with immediate effect, and the company and its director were disqualified for three years.
- A tachograph in one of its lorries had not been downloaded for 1,076 days. The law requires at least every 90 days.
- A driver was in breach of his immigration status, and the lorry he drove was not on the licence.
- A1 Road Haulage Limited, run by members of the same family, was refused a licence for four lorries.
The decision was made by Deputy Traffic Commissioner John Baker for the South Eastern and Metropolitan traffic area, after a public inquiry in Eastbourne on 30 July 2026.
Almost three years without data
DVSA stopped PS Haulage lorries several times. The findings included:
- 4 November 2025: the driver of one lorry was in breach of his immigration status. The vehicle was not authorised on the licence.
- 16 March 2026: one driver’s card was used beyond his 10-hour driving limit. Then another person’s card was inserted, and the lorry was driven for another 58 minutes.
- 13 April 2026: the tachograph in a lorry driven by Sukhvir Singh had not been downloaded for 1,076 days.
No vehicle excise duty was in force either.
Under the rules, data from the vehicle unit must be downloaded at least every 90 days and from driver cards at least every 28 days. Without it, an operator cannot check drivers’ hours or spot infringements.
The director and transport manager, Peram Singh, did not speak to the DVSA examiner and did not attend the inquiry. In December 2025 she said by email that the licence was being surrendered. The commissioner refused the surrender and revoked the licence instead, saying the operator “ought to be put out of business”.
Peram Singh was disqualified for three years from holding a licence as a director, partner or sole trader. She was also disqualified indefinitely as a transport manager, until she requalifies and shows a “markedly different” attitude to compliance.
The “new” company
At the same inquiry, the commissioner dealt with an application from A1 Road Haulage Limited for four lorries. Its director is Avtar Singh, and the proposed transport manager is Jeevan Singh. Peram Singh is their daughter.
The commissioner found that:
- £22,000 came into A1’s account from Sukhvir Singh in December 2025, just above the £21,500 the company needed to show. Avtar Singh said it was a gift,
- Avtar Singh had previously surrendered a licence before a public inquiry,
- Jeevan Singh’s repute as a transport manager had been tarnished at an earlier inquiry,
- documents on maintenance and drivers’ hours requested before the hearing were not provided.
He concluded that the application was “put forward as a front” for Sukhvir Singh, the driver of PS Haulage, and refused it.
A warning for “phoenix” operators
The case shows that traffic commissioners look closely at new applications from people connected to revoked operators. Money transfers, family links and the same drivers are all checked. Earlier this year, a commissioner also revoked a licence over a “helping hand” arrangement in which one firm ran vehicles under another’s authorisation.
For hauliers, the basic lesson is simple: download tachograph data on time and check it. As another case showed, tachograph failings can put a whole licence at risk.
