A Sittingbourne operator was called out as “an accident waiting to happen” and had their licence revoked by the South Eastern Traffic Commissioner, Sarah Bell. The failings were widespread and included:

• Running almost double the number of vehicles it was authorised to
• No VU tachograph downloads in 505 days
• 256 incidences of driving ‘off-card’
• No driving licence checks
• No systems to analyse drivers’ hours and working time directive compliance
• Out of date approach to maintenance standards

The operator had been running 9 vehicles when their entitlement was five. In a written decision, the Traffic Commioner said the company had done this for commercial gain and this operation was an accident waiting to happen.  The TC added  “This is a bad case and this operator deserves to be put out of business. I hope that the message sent out will be clear to all that this wholesale disregard for the operator licensing regime will not be tolerated.” It is vital that operators take a compliance first approach to their operations and incorporate systems and processes to download and analyse tachograph data, ensure vehicles are roadworthy and drivers are entitled to drive. Descartes SmartCompliance provides all of these things in one platform, one username, one login, one complete picture of compliance. It includes:

• SmartAnalysis, tachograph analysis and reporting for drivers' hours and WTD compliance - Sign-up for £40 per driver per year.
• SmartLicence, driving licence and driver CPC verification with the DVLA - Sign-up for £3.50 per check or £3 per check for existing SmartAnalysis users.
• SmartCheck, driver vehicle safety checks - Sign-up for £60 per vehicle per year.

It is time you got your compliance systems and processes together in one place? Source: Commercial Motor.