In cutting the standard O-Licence held by Glasgow-based James McCann, trading as J McCann Transport, from three vehicles to one for three months, Traffic Commissioner (TC) Richard Turfitt warned that operators should not labour under the impression that an audit undertaking is an opportunity to “have a go” and then remedy any shortcomings thereafter — that would be akin to presenting a vehicle for annual test, waiting to see what defects were identified, then fixing the vehicle afterwards.
Mr McCann and the current transport manager (TM), Mr McCann Junior, had attended a Public Inquiry (PI) on 8 May 2025, following reports of unsatisfactory maintenance. The TM’s repute was held to be tarnished.
The TC said it was accepted that the TM and the owner had taken their eyes off the ball. It was a business which did mainly domestic work with the occasional private hire that fell within EU tachograph rules. Its failure to restart downloading and analysing tachograph data after the end of lockdown was not excusable.
Compliance with the rules about drivers’ hours and tachographs is mandatory — a failure to have a functioning computer to enable that to be done, and the failure to have adequate software for analysis, is also inexcusable.
An audit report prepared by OLMC Group, an O-Licence consultant and compliance expert, was uploaded on 9 November 2025, together with the operator’s response. The auditor had apparently given the operator a ‘red’ score under its rating scheme. Given the assistance provided by a traffic examiner in 2024, the TC was surprised to note the findings of unsatisfactory vehicle maintenance in the operator’s own audit of November 2025.
There was now a ‘basic in-house’ driver handbook, including a code of conduct, written by Messrs McCann. The auditor confirmed the traffic examiner’s findings that digital and driver cards were held on file and tracked by EasyTac digital tachograph software. Driver licence checks were conducted on a quarterly basis.
The auditor suggested that the TM understood how to identify and manage relevant risks. That was contrasted by the shortcomings and the admission that roller brake testing, wheel fixing retorques, and deficiencies in maintenance records had not been addressed. TC Turfitt was told that Mr McCann Jnr attended TM refresher training in December 2025, and that he was aware of how to read a brake performance test.
Mr McCann undertook that laden roller brake tests would be conducted at least four times per year and no more than 14-days before a preventative maintenance inspection (PMI), and that a form of metered brake performance testing be undertaken for every PMI as per the Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness. He also undertook that all defects encountered by drivers immediately before and during operation of vehicles would be recorded in writing, so that they can be audited by the TM.
TC Turfitt considered that a warning would be insufficient. This was not the first PI, and there had been further opportunity given to demonstrate compliance through an audit report. He was entitled to rely on the word of an operator that it would comply with all the conditions and undertakings on the O-Licence. Deterrent action was required in this case to drive that message home.
