Stocksfield operator Raymond Johnson has had his licence cut from three to two vehicles.
Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) Mark Hinchliffe has also banned him from acting as a Transport Manager (TM) indefinitely.
He has allowed until 26 July for the appointment of a new TM.
Mr Johnson, of Gaycourt, Mickley, Stocksfield, had been called before the DTC at a Leeds Public Inquiry because of concerns over vehicle maintenance.
The DTC said that there was a maintenance investigation in February 2018 when the inspection records were not satisfactory. The concerns raised were clearly spelled out, yet a desktop assessment in September found many were still unaddressed.
Mr Johnson said that all that he could say was that it was an oversight. It was now all much more on a solid basis than it had been before.
Asked to show the DTC one driver defect report that showed a defect, Mr Johnson said that he did not enter anything when the defect had already been put right.
He agreed that the current defect reports were RHA forms. The DTC pointed out that the RHA forms missed a whole range of items a PSV form would have.
Mr Johnson said that he thought they covered most items, but the DTC said they showed only about half of what they should.
The PMI records listed defects which drivers should pick up and report.
Asked why he needed different maintenance contractors, Mr Johnson said that it was difficult to find someone to do them. However, they were now being inspected by PCL.
The DTC commented that it should not be a case of “flying by the seat of your pants to find someone”. That was why a contract was necessary.
Mr Johnson said that PCL only did any minor repairs. Someone else did any major repairs. He thought PCL had too many coaches of their own to maintain without doing everything on his.
He admitted that Peter Cowell, of PCL, had signed off a vehicle as fit and serviceable before someone else had repaired a broken spring.
Mr Cowell said that when Mr Johnson got into problems over his records he said he would help, but could not do any major work.
For Mr Johnson, Simon Catterall said that he had been operating for 50 years without any problems. He was old school. Systems had moved on and left him behind. He intended to retire at the end of August.
The DTC said the problem was that Mr Johnson was the TM and was not fulfilling that role very well. His approach to record keeping was not up to modern standards. Even today there were obvious problems with the records that were not obvious to Mr Johnson.
As TM Mr Johnson was principally responsible for the failings.
He recognised there had been some improvement, but had there been any prohibitions, the licence would have ended there and then.
