A Telford haulage operator has been suspended from running HGVs after Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones found that drivers had driven excessive hours, broken speed limits and created false records. The operator also ran more vehicles than were authorised and did not carry out proper checks of driver records. A DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) traffic examiner found that 10% of the driver records contained infringements. Evidence also showed that one employee had driven HGVs in excess of the speed limit. The DVSA officer reported that the operator was out of control highlighting the road safety risks of a driver who regularly worked double shifts, driving for more than 16 hours in a 24 hour period. One employee used another driver's name for his own driving records, even though the other driver was driving for another business at that time. The company’s Transport manager told the regulator he had delegated tasks to a driver. The traffic commissioner said the failures had stemmed from incompetence and neglect. The Traffic Commissioner made an order to suspend the operating licence and turned down an application to increase the fleet from four vehicles to 12.  The Transport Manager lost his repute and professional competence as a transport manager and is disqualified from acting in this role until he passes the Certificate of Professional Competence examinations.  Action was also taken against the operator’s drivers, including disqualifying a driver who admitted to falsifying records. Given the scale of the offences, threat to public safety and potential competitive gains from abuse of drivers’ hours the suspension is completely justified. Drivers’ hours can be managed effectively with Smartanalysis for just 25p per driver per day and will save you time, money and headaches in managing compliance.