A Transport Manager (TM) cannot just act in a supervisory capacity as the EU Regulations require a TM to have continuous and effective management of the transport operation. It is a very “hands on” position.
This was emphasised by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Jones when he took no action other than to issue a warning to Isle of Anglesey-based W E Jones & Sons. The company, with a nine-vehicle national licence, had been called before the TC at a Welshpool Public Inquiry.
Director Wyn Evan Jones said that it was a family business going back to the 1940s. They were operating three vehicles and they wished to reduce the authorisation to four.
Vehicle Examiner (VE) Ruth Kyriacos said that the company had two school contracts. She carried out a maintenance investigation in May following an incident when two pupils who had been fighting fell through the emergency window of the vehicle.
The specified TM on the licence was no longer in post and the proposed TM, Iwan Pritchard, did not have a contract of employment. Safety inspection records did not record brake performance, and the four-weekly inspection cycle had been exceeded.
She inspected two vehicles and found only advisory defects. She had inspected a third vehicle two days earlier which was free of defects. There was an initial pass rate at an annual test of 93%. Advice given was acted upon immediately. The vehicles were well kept and she was happy with the standard of maintenance. Six-weekly inspections would not be a problem.
Mr Jones said that they had asked for a period of grace after his father, who had been the TM, died in November. They had not heard yes or no, so he had assumed they had a period of grace. His stepson, Iwan Pritchard, passed the TM CPC exam at the beginning of December.
The TC said that when the period of grace was asked for, it was said that Mr Jones’ father had only acted in a supervisory role for some time because of his age.
Asked how driving records were checked, Mr Jones replied that it was a close-knit community and he would know if anything was not right. He admitted that driving licences were not checked and that there was no system for scanning tachograph records
Mr Pritchard said that he was a qualified civil engineer. He worked as TM on a Saturday and he was looking into going into the business. It would not be a problem to sort out an employment contract. They did no more than five private hire jobs a year.
Undertakings were given to have an employment contract within 56 days, to employ a consultant to give advice on drivers’ hours and records within three months, and to have six weekly inspections.
The TC said that the company needed a more formalised system. The TM situation had been rectified and it was clear that Mr Pritchard knew what he was doing.
