The two-vehicle national O-Licence held by Llangefni-based school bus operator Alan Woolley, trading as Dolphin Travel, was revoked by Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) Miles Dorrington with effect from the end of this year after Mr Woolley’s appearance at a second Public Inquiry (PI) within 18 months.
The DTC also disqualified Mr Woolley from acting as a Transport Manager (TM) until he passes a fresh CPC exam.
Mr Woolley appeared before TC Nick Jones in August 2018. Mr Jones refused to grant him authorisation for an extra vehicle.
‘Same issues present as before’
The DTC said that Mr Woolley had since undertaken a TM’s two-day refresher course. Despite that, in June 2019 Vehicle Examiner (VE) Ruth Kyriacos found maintenance to be unsatisfactory. The issues were the same as at the previous PI.
The VE said that inspection records had still not been completed in a timely manner. On occasions, mileage was missing and records were not signed off. Two wall planners had still been in use, making planning difficult with inspection and brake testing periods not being adhered to.
There were still no undercover maintenance facilities. Access to the pit was narrow. As a result, the exterior of a vehicle could not be examined. Since the last PI, two vehicles had failed their annual MoT tests.
Looking at records produced at the PI, Ms Kyriacos said that Dolphin Travel had one wall planner for 2020 with details correctly inserted. It was merely a matter of making sure that it was correctly followed. Inspections were now carried out at the correct intervals. She still had some concerns about the wheel retorquing procedure.
Mr Woolley said that one of the vehicles failed its annual test because parts were not delivered on time and it was too late to cancel the test. The other failed for the wrong type of seatbelt. That was put right. The vehicle passed when it was re-presented.
Roller brake tests were now being undertaken at every inspection. A transport consultant who had carried out an audit in August had said he would visit again when requested to.
Poor contract rates involved
The VE said that the records presented to her in June differed from those presented to the transport consultant. The DTC commented that the audit report still showed problems, yet nothing had been done. Mr Woolley was at his second PI. There were still things that impacted on road safety that had not been dealt with.
Mr Woolley said he understood about road safety. He had his own family driving for him. He would not run a vehicle that was unfit. “I do not class myself as bad as some others out there,” he said. MR Woolley added that living in North Wales, he could not afford decent vehicles with the money that was paid for school contracts.
Making the revocation and disqualification orders, the DTC said that there had been a 100% failure rate at annual test. The paperwork was chaotic or confusing and there had been insufficient management control. Lessons had not been learned since the last PI, despite advice.
Mr Woolley has indicated that he will appeal against the DTC’s decision.
