Declaration changes must be notified Scottish LA
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• Mr Alex Birnie, the Scottish LA, gave a warning last week that hauliers and contractors who failed to keep promises made to him to maintain their vehicles could lose their licences.
He was given assurances by several operators in Glasgow to inspect their vehicles frequently and to maintain proper records, and he said: "Declarations of intent are very important.
"If you depart from them without any notice, this is enough cause for me to call you up and revoke, curtail, or suspend your licences, particularly on maintenance. If you say you will do one thing and change your mind and do another, I want to be notified."
Mr Michael Gormley, proprietor of John Hodge Ltd, furntiture remover, Greenock, admitted that he had kept no proper records of maintenance work done to his two vans.
Mr Roderick Mackenzie, for Mr Gormley, said he had kept invoices in the belief that these were records. He had found garages too busy and unreliable. Police had stopped Mr Gormley while driving a van and he was later fined £40 and had his licence endorsed at Greenock Sheriff Court because of faults on the vehicle.
"The sooner some legislation is passed stating what records should be kept the better for the transport industry because one proprietor keeps one type and another a different one," said Mr Mackenzie.
He added: "Mr Gormley has learned his lesson and is going to keep separate record sheets for each vehicle."
Mr Birnie said that the condition of the vehicle impounded by the police had been grim. "He should have known about the records because he heard about them earlier from my staff," he added. He suspended Mr Gormley's licence for two months on one vehicle.