Dutch haulier: only for a year
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by Mike Jewell • Dutch haulier Edcrest has had its Sittingbournebased licence renewed for 12 months only by South Eastern LA Michael Turner.
The company came "within a whisker" of having its licence revoked last November when Turner cut the authorisation from 150 to 30 vehicles and directed that the licence should terminate at the end of the year (CM 28 Dec 1993).
Turner's actions followed fines and costs of £2,775 imposed after Edcrest had admitted permitting drivers to take insufficient rest and to fail to keep tachograph records correctly.
He increased the authorisation to 50 vehicles and 65 trailers but warned that he would not renew the licence again in 1995 if there are further weaknesses.
The LA heard that analysis of 609 tachograph charts has revealed 203 infringements relating to speeding, not removing the chart after 24 hours, and occasional excessive hours. No maintenance records could be traced for JuneDecember 1993, and this year reports on the vehicles were "few and far between".
For Edcrest, Jacqueline Beech said Leyland Daf's receivership had been a heavy blow as 80% of the traffic had been for Leyland Daf.
Recovery had been slow and the operational problems had taken time to rectify.
Turner said that while he was satisfied about finance, he was not satisfied with the documentation procedures nor with the drivers' conduct.