Yellow Travel Wrexham has been banned from holding a PSV O-Licence for two years by TC Victoria Davies for maintenance issues
Yellow Travel Wrexham has been banned from holding a PSV O-Licence for two years after its one-vehicle national licence, granted in 2021, was revoked by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Victoria Davies for serious maintenance issues.
Vehicle Examiner (VE) Mark Williams said that he visited the company in November 2022. A vehicle he witnessed returning to the operating centre had several safety-critical issues. A partial inspection was also carried out on a second vehicle. An immediate prohibition was issued due to a bulge detected in the tread area caused by failure of the tyre’s structure. The records for that vehicle were not fully completed, with the roadworthiness declaration not signed off.
The frequency of the inspection intervals had been exceeded. There was evidence of one vehicle not being in use, but there was no Vehicle Off Road (VOR) notice in the vehicle file. There was evidence that walk-round checks were being carried out, however the faults found on the two vehicles inspected at the fleet check suggested that those checks were ineffective.
The maintenance arrangements/facilities were found to be wholly inadequate. There was evidence of a poor MoT test history, with vehicles undergoing the incorrect type of MoT. The company was not in possession of an appropriate wheel nut torque wrench. It was not using wheel nut pointers or any other means of additional wheel security. One vehicle was fitted with wheel embellishers which prevented wheel nut security observation at the time of a driver’s walk-round check. No specific tyre management systems were in place, with no evidence that tyre ages were recorded, or tyre pressures checked.
Nobody represented the company at the Public Inquiry, which had been adjourned on several occasions at the company’s request. Financial evidence requested was not produced.
In her decision, the TC said that there were reckless acts by the ope rator and drivers which led to an undue risk to road safety. The prohibition notice that was issued to the vehicle just after it returned to the operating centre, having just completed the morning run, demonstrated a shocking approach to safety, with inoperative seatbelts, no fire extinguisher on the vehicle, and an insecure battery, which constituted a fire risk, to name a few of the defects found.
Of particular concern was a seat that had been placed against the rear emergency door, meaning that there was no access to the emergency door handle for passengers. The VE found that the emergency door could only be opened from the outside of the vehicle. That vehicle had just returned from transporting passengers that morning and was in a dangerous condition, with numerous defects which should have been picked up by the driver undertaking the walk-round check before use.
The ‘Maintenance Manager’ on the latest company headed paper was one of the drivers named by the VE who had failed to perform an adequate driver walk-round check, and in relation to whom a concern was raised that he had signed off a vehicle as OK on 24 October 2022 after concerns had been raised about brakes not working and it being ‘dangerous’, and despite it having failed a brake test that same day.
