Following a ruling by Traffic Commissioner Nick Jones, a midlands businessman has been disqualified indefinitely from operating trucks in a number of operating companies after encouraging drivers to work excessive hours. In one example a driver worked for 72 hours without a significant break. The industry regulator stated that he could never be trusted to be involved in the licensing system again. The unlawful activities, on exceeding drivers’ hours had given him a significant commercial advantage. Employees undertook sustained driving whilst tired putting other road users in jeopardy. After pleading guilty to various offences he was handed an eight month prison sentence. The sentencing note said employees drove dangerously long hours and falsified their records to hide their criminal activities. It added that he expected drivers to work excessive hours and break the law. Mr Jones said: “The sentencing note is not a description of an isolated incident; it is of wholesale criminality and describes how greed led to a train of events that included the ruin of businesses and of many people’s lives." Source: Stourbridge News