Decision

Decision for Arlington Haulage Ltd

Published 1 April 2022

0.1 WEST MIDLANDS TRAFFIC AREA

1. DECISION OF THE TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER

1.1 PUBLIC INQUIRY HELD ON 25 MARCH 2022

2. OPERATOR: ARLINGTON HAULAGE LTD

2.1 LICENCE OD1112005

3. Background

Arlington Haulage Ltd holds a standard national goods vehicle operator licence for eight vehicles and eight trailers. The sole director of the company is Marian Allman, and the nominated transport manager is Andrew Astley.

The licence was granted on 13 September 2012. On 28 May 2012, a public inquiry had been held by my predecessor into licence OD266805 held by Neil Allman t/a Arlington Haulage. Neil Allman is Marian Allman’s son. The licence was revoked with effect from 30 September 2012 because of the number of prohibitions incurred by the operator and its failure to ensure the observance of drivers’ hours rules. Neil Allman lost his repute as transport manager and was disqualified indefinitely from acting as such. The decision stated that, if he wished to regain his good repute, he must first re-take and pass the transport manager CPC examination.

3.1 DVSA stop

On 20 July 2021 DVSA stopped a 44 tonne articulated vehicle being operated by Arlington Haulage Ltd. The driver, Neil Allman, was found to lack the necessary driving entitlement to driver a C+E category vehicle. He had never possessed such entitlement. A look at Neil Allman’s tachograph record showed that he had driven the vehicle on numerous occasions over the preceding eight weeks. Mr Allman described himself to traffic examiner Kathrine Cox as “the boss” of Arlington Haulage Ltd.

Subsequent interviews with director Marian Allman and transport manager Andrew Astley revealed that only a visual check of the front of Neil Allman’s driver licence had ever been carried out. It also became clear that Mr Astley had little or no day to day involvement with the transport activities of the business. Asked whether the drivers reported directly to him, Mr Astley stated that “they report to Marian or Neil” although he did see the drivers usually on Fridays.

4. Public inquiry

Concerned by the DVSA report, I called both operator and transport manager to a public inquiry. The call-up letters were sent on 21 February 2022, with the inquiry re-arranged from its original date of 23 March to 25 March.

On 9 March 2022 my clerk received a letter dated 7 March from Marian Allman to the effect that owing to ill-health she had surrendered the licence. Subsequently, a letter dated 21 March 2022 was received from the company’s legal representative Backhouse Jones which informed me that operations had ceased on 5 March 2022 and that the company would not be attending the public inquiry on 25 March. The letter confirmed that the company wished to surrender the licence but recognised that the inquiry would still go ahead and that I would then make a decision whether to accept surrender or take regulatory action.

The Backhouse Jones letter also referred to a letter dated 4 March 2022 from transport manager Andrew Astley to my office in which Mr Astley had apparently confirmed his resignation as transport manager. This letter does not appear to have been received.

As expected, no one appeared at today’s inquiry, so I have proceeded to make findings on the basis of the written evidence.

5. Findings

I make the following findings:

• the transport manager Andrew Astley has not been exercising the required continuous and effective management of the business. By his own admission he has not been engaged in the day to day running of the vehicles: such engagement is however expected of a transport manager on an eight vehicle licence. His failure to spot that a driver of a 44 tonne vehicle did not have the right category of driver licence is a fundamental dereliction of duty.

• from the papers it appears highly likely that Mr Astley has been a transport manager in name only, providing a cloak under which Neil Allman (disqualified as a transport manager) continued to run matters. For that reason I find that Mr Astley lacks good repute. His failure to appear at today’s inquiry has prevented him from presenting any mitigating arguments.

• the operator has failed to fulfil its undertaking to ensure the lawful driving of vehicles (Section 26(1)(f) of the 1995 Act refers). Neil Allman was permitted to drive despite lacking the correct entitlement. It appears highly likely from the papers that Mr Allman was the controlling mind of the company and that checks on his driving entitlement were never carried out.

I have concluded that the transport manager Andrew Astley lacks good repute. The operator therefore lacks professional competence (and in reality has long lacked it, since Mr Astley has been a cypher). Revocation of the licence is therefore mandatory under Section 27(1)(a) and (b) of the 1995 Act. I am unwilling to accept the proffered surrender as Neil Allman’s conduct has been so disgraceful and the operator’s failure to ensure that its vehicles are driven by people actually entitled to drive them is so fundamental. The revocation takes effect immediately, as the operator has already ceased operations in practice.

Having removed Andrew Astley’s good repute as transport manager, I must also disqualify him from acting as such, under Schedule 3 to the 1995 Act. Because he failed to attend the inquiry, the disqualification is for an indefinite period of time. If he wishes to argue that the disqualification be time-limited or cancelled, he may seek a hearing before a traffic commissioner.

I am also disqualifying the company Arlington Haulage Ltd from holding or obtaining an operator’s licence in the future, pursuant to Section 28 of the 1995 Act. I have found that it is highly likely that Neil Allman is the controlling mind of this company. Given that he has shown such flagrant disregard for the law, the company should not be permitted to re-enter the road haulage market any time soon. The disqualification is indefinite but the company may, after two years, seek a hearing if it wishes to argue that the disqualification be time-limited or cancelled.

Given Marian Allman’s age, and in the light of the assurance in her letter that she will not seek to re-enter the industry, I am not making a disqualification order against her.

Nicholas Denton

Traffic Commissioner

25 March 2022