Cases on non-compliance can not only affect your business now but can also have a detrimental impact on your future growth plans as a recent case in Swindon highlights where a breakdown and recovery firm’s application for extra vehicles and trailers was refused by Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney due to compliance concerns. The Traffic Commissioner said it would be inappropriate to allow any growth in fleet operations until there is clear evidence the company had eradicated overloading and drivers’ hours issues. The decision follows a public inquiry in Bristol on 06 October to consider the company’s application for extra vehicles. Evidence presented by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) following an investigation and analysis of tachograph data from the driver’s card and the vehicle unit revealed four occasions where it appeared the driver had exceeded 4.5 hours driving without taking a qualifying break and one instance of knowingly making a false record. A second encounter, with another driver, revealed several offences, including exceeding 10 hours driving and insufficient daily rest within a single 24-hour period. In addition to this, the vehicle was overloaded by 500kg. There was no evidence of pressure on drivers to falsify records. However, the Commissioner did not accept the company’s position that the overloaded vehicle was a simple miscalculation, as the offence was repeated. The inquiry also identified issues with vehicle inspections and driver defect reporting, Ruling that it would be disproportionate to take any action that would put the firm out of business, Mr Rooney concluded “Any future application to increase licence authority will be more likely to succeed if accompanied by a comprehensive third-party audit of all compliance systems and with specific attention paid to journey scheduling, tachograph analysis, unaccounted driving and maintenance.” Get to grips with downloading your tachograph data and management of drivers’ hours with Smartanalysis. Source UK Haulier News