Operator with 9% annual pass rate is disqualified
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THE SOUTH-EASTERN and Metropolitan Traffic Commissioner, Christopher Heaps, has revoked the licence of Acton, London-based Nijjar Dairies, claiming it had one of the worst maintenance records he had ever seen.
As well as losing authority for its 41 vehicles and five trailers, the company and its directors were disqualified from holding or obtaining an 0-licence in any traffic area for a year.
The TC was told the firm's vehicles had been issued with eight immediate and 19 delayed prohibitions for at least 64 defects. There had also been 15 variation and refusal notices, with some vehicles being unsuccessfully presented for clearance three or four times. The first-time pass rate at annual test was only 36.22% before February 2005 — and by the end of April it was 9%.Vehicles were operated while subject to prohibition notices and without current test certificates.
An examination of 47 tachograph charts revealed 71 breaches of the drivers' hours and tachograph rules by 11 drivers. The vast majority related to centrefield and mode-switch problems.
Director Balvinder Nijjar admitted that the directors had not realised the extent of the situation and that they had not previously taken their 0-licensing responsibilities seriously. He said that among the steps taken were the employment of an extra mechanic,the proposed employment of a further mechanic, weekly tyre checks, training from the RHA, improved communication with the workshop,greater authority for the transport manager to employ outside contractors and the employment of a person to check the tachograph records.
For the company, Jeremy Fear said it had, albeit belatedly, now "taken a grip", as demonstrated by the additional staff and resources and the introduction of new maintenance records and driver defect reports.
The company had also been convicted of two offences of allowing an unqualified driver to drive and one of breaching the LBTS rules.