Williams Transport refused O-licence
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The haulier was refused a licence after an inquiry into unlicensed vehicle use and links with a revoked licence
roger.brown@roadtransport.com WILLIAMS TRANSPORT Hereford has been refused an O-licence following a public inquiry into unlicensed vehicle use and connections with a revoked licence.
In a written decision following a public inquiry (PI) in Birmingham in March, West Midland Trafic Area Deputy Trafic Commissioner (DTC) Lester Maddrell held that the irm was not of good repute. Williams Transport Hereford had applied for an O-licence to operate two LGVs from a site in Grandstand Road, Hereford in November 2010.
The DTC’s ofice subsequently sent its sole director Samuel Williams letters pointing out that the company was operating without an interim licence. In September 2010, his father Gary Williams applied for an O-licence for his new irm G&B Williams, but withdrew this a month later. Gary Williams had been authorised for eight vehicles for his business G&B Williams but this had been revoked following a PI in June 2010 into driver training matters.
In December 2010 two vehicles, which were registered to Williams Transport but had been run under the revoked licence, were spotted on the road by VOSA oficers. In the windscreens were blue discs, blank except for the words “licence applied for” . Maddrell rejected the explanation from Samuel Williams that he acted alone in his business and without advice from his father and without the knowledge of the transport manager.
However, the DTC said: “I ind that the blue discs in the windscreen were a deliberate attempt to convey the impression to someone at a distance, for example at the roadside or in a nearby vehicle, that there was an operator’s licence in force.
“There has been blatant and persistent unlicensed use for commercial gain. It continued even after a vehicle had been stopped, let alone after the ofice of the TC had written reminding the company it had no licence.” The TC also held that John Jones, transport manager at Williams Transport, has lost his repute as a transport manager.