In refusing to grant Llangefni, Isle of Anglesey-based Alan Woolley, trading as Dolphin Travel, an additional vehicle, Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Jones said that it was better for him to run fewer vehicles safely than to get into difficulty.
The TC had been considering action against the two-vehicle national licence held by Mr Woolley and against the vocational licence held by Philip Gross, who had been employed as a casual driver. He was also considering Mr Woolley’s repute as a Transport Manager (TM).
The TC said that Mr Gross, who had been found driving without a chart in his tachograph, had failed to attend a driver conduct hearing in May and was not there at the present hearing. Consequently, he revoked Mr Gross’ PSV driving entitlement and disqualified him from holding such an entitlement until either his 80th birthday or after he attended a driver conduct hearing.
In reply to the TC, Mr Woolley said that only he and his son normally drove. He had asked Mr Gross if he was up to the mark and he had said that he was. He looked at the tachograph records himself.
The TC said that Vehicle Examiner Ruth Kyriacos had reported that Mr Woolley had two school contracts and rarely undertook any private hires.
Safety inspection records were not retained for vehicles that had been sold. Safety inspections were at four-week intervals, yet one vehicle had gone eight weeks between inspections.
Maintenance facilities at Craigwen, Mr Woolley’s home address, were not undercover. The nominated operating centre had not been in use for around six months and the vehicles were being kept at Craigwen. The failure rate at an annual test was 64% compared with the national average of 14%. No prohibitions had been issued to Mr Woolley’s vehicles and she was given full co-operation by Mr Woolley who was receptive to advice.
Mr Woolley said that the annual test problems were with two vehicles he had purchased which were not on his licence at the time. On one occasion there was a problem with the roller brake tester used at a contractor’s premises. The vehicle that had gone eight weeks between inspections had been off the road. The inspection pit at Craigwen would be covered within the next 12 months.
He agreed that he had not had any TM refresher training, saying that he had been in buses his whole life and he kept up-to-date by reading routeone.
He undertook to take on TM’s refresher training within three months, to have rolling road brake test every other PMI, and to have an independent audit of his maintenance system in 12 months’ time.
Taking no action other than refusing the additional vehicle, the TC said that it was “a warning shot across the bows”.
This was Mr Woolley’s first Public Inquiry, he had been operating for a long time and was not a rogue.
There had been little DVSA presence in North Wales in the past for a number of years and he felt that the hearing had been an education for Mr Woolley. There were worse operators.
