For a Walsall tipper driver with a checkered history, the O license was revoked after “wholesale violations” were reported and twice the number of authorized vehicles were driven without preventive maintenance. Nick Denton, TC of West Midlands, said Barry Bernhard Taylor, trading as BT Mixer & Tipper Hire, deserved to go out of business for his “illegal and ruthless negligence”, calling him an “incorrigible villain” .
During a DVSA on-site visit to the retailer’s premises, it was found that no vehicles were listed in Taylor’s license, nor were any vehicles listed. In addition, its vehicles did not receive regular preventive maintenance inspections. There was no system for reporting driver shortages. Drivers did not use tachograph cards or cards at all, and four vehicles were operated in place of the two registered ones.
At a PI in Birmingham, Taylor said he drove four vehicles because it was uneconomical to drive two, and that he had not used any of them for preventive maintenance inspections for fear the DVSA would discover that it is operating an illegal number of trucks .
He also said that it was not worth recording drivers’ hours as the drive was strictly local and would not exceed hours. Taylor asked the TC for an opportunity to show him he could operate four trucks compliantly and then judge him on his records, but Denton said the operator should be out of business.
In his written decision he said: “A license for which he was director and transport manager was cut in 2010 for reasons similar to the deficiencies identified by DVSA. After that license was revoked in 2013, he was convicted of operating without a license.
“After being granted his sole proprietorship license in 2015, he immediately operated twice the number of permitted vehicles, without preventive maintenance of the vehicles and completely disregarding the tachograph requirements.
“With this in mind, I have no hesitation in concluding that Barry Bernhard Taylor’s good reputation is being lost. His past and current wholesale non-compliance are conclusive evidence that he cannot be trusted to comply at all in the future, ”he added.
As a result, the license was revoked, Taylor was banned from holding an O license indefinitely as a transport manager and also indefinitely.
