Operators hang on to licence by hiring trucks
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II The two-vehicle licence held by John Russell and Andrew Bush, trading as Bush and Griffiths Builders Merchants, of Mountain Ash, Mid Glamorgan, was renewed to the end of the year after South Wales Licensing Authority John Mervyn Pugh was told the company was now hiring vehicles from a company which had a contract for their maintenance.
The LA had been considering taking disciplinary action following an unsatisfactory maintenance investigation.
Mervyn Pugh said the vehicle examiner had reported that the firm had failed to institute a written drivers ' nil daily defect reporting system and preventative maintenance inspections were being carried out at irregular intervals.
Asked about a vehicle found to have a defective steering system, Bush said the fault had not been detected by the commercial garage undertaking the maintenance. He was a carpenter by trade and was not qualified to judge the standard of the servicing and maintenance work. That was why he decided to use contract hire vehicles.
Deciding not to revoke the licence, and to renew it until the end of the year, Mervyn Pugh said the firm had clearly attempted to put its house in order. He pointed out the necessity of keeping copies of the inspection records despite the fact that they were contract hire vehicles.