In his decision the TC stated that while not dishonest, Mr Pellington of Hi-Ride Coaches was inept at designing and running to timetable
A second appearance before a Traffic Commisisoner for a high rate of non-compliance with a local service timetable between Perry Barr and Bearwood has led to Birmingham-based Ferdinand Pellington, trading as Hi-Ride Coaches, being banned from operating local services with effect from 10 September by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Denton.
In addition, the TC cut the licence held by Mr Pellington, of Handsworth, Birmingham, from two vehicles to one on financial grounds.
At a previous Public Inquiry (PI) in 2015 when service punctuality was also an issue, TC Nick Jones warned that any further failures were likely to result in Mr Pellington being banned from operating local services.
The TC said that Traffic Examiner (TE) Robert Lees reported that during a monitoring exercise over 13 days on Mr Pellington’s service, of 58 journeys monitored 19 failed to operate and 32 ran more than five minutes late, giving an overall failure rate of 87%. There seemed not to have been any improvement since the previous PI.
Mr Pellington said that he was not aware of any complaints from passengers. Problems had been caused by roadworks at Bearwood and at the main turning point, which started without warning and ran from July until December. He could not alter the timetable as he had just started operating the service in July. He had had in mind to vary the service but before he put a variation in the roadworks finished.
After the TC pointed out that roadworks could not be the reasons for failures to operate, Mr Pellington said there must have been breakdowns and he had been unable to hire in.
The TE said that a further small monitoring exercise was carried out in February and March. The nine journeys monitored resulted in a non-compliance rate of 22%. There were no layover times at either end in the timetable. It did not comply with the domestic drivers’ hours rules. Though Mr Pellington had been observed taking breaks they were not built into the timetable.
In his decision, the TC said that in 2015 TC Jones had said that Mr Pellington clearly lacked the skills to design a workable timetable and suggested that he buy in help to do that. He did not buy in outside assistance but proceeded to design and implement a timetable which was incompatible with drivers’ hours rules and allowed no recovery time between services.
Like his predecessor, he also concluded that Mr Pellington, while clearly inept at designing and running to timetable, was not a dishonest man, nor had the failings jeopardised anyone’s safety. He was not therefore making an adverse finding against his good repute as an operator or transport manager. He was aware that Mr Pellington’s business might no longer be viable once he could not operate a local service. He might wish to surrender the licence, as TC Jones suggested he should think of doing in December 2015.
