Decision

Decision for Optimum Pallet Services

Published 20 December 2024

0.1 WESTERN TRAFFIC AREA

1. OPTIMUM PALLET SERVICES LTD OH2070857

2. AT A PUBLIC INQUIRY IN BRISTOL 11 DECEMBER 2024

3. BACKGROUND

Optimum Pallet Services Ltd (“OPS”) is the holder of a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence authorising the use of four vehicles and four trailers from a site at 70 Stoke Road, Slough. The licence started on 19 February 2024. The sole director is Vanessa de Sousa Araujo Merricks. Ms Merricks was appointed as a director in April 2023 replacing Mr Saad Awan Ahmad. She replaced Mr Ahmad as a person of significant control through shareholding on 1 January 2024, four days before the application for the licence was made. Saad Ahmad was the sole director of Optimum Pallets Ltd which held licence OK2023877 until it was revoked on 3 April 2024 following a failure to respond to contact from DVSA.

My office received a report from DVSA Traffic Examiner David Copley on 30 July 2024. Mr Copley sets out the failed attempts to carry out an investigation following the company’s failure to respond to three invitations to attend – online – a new operator seminar. The story goes like this:

3.1 Thursday 6 June 2024

Mr Copley attends the listed operating centre at 10:00 hrs. Another operator is present and their transport manager says that he is unaware of OPS and has never seen their vehicles. Mr Copley speaks by telephone to a manager at OPS, Ali Mahmood, who confirms the site is the listed operating centre. An appointment is made to return at 10:00 hrs, Friday 14 June. Mr Copley expresses his concern that the site is not large enough for both operators.

3.2 Wednesday 12 June

Ms Merricks emails Mr Copley to say that she is on maternity leave and cannot attend on the Friday. She has arranged for a transport consultant to attend but he cannot make that date. She has submitted an application to reduce authority. A new date of 18 June at 10:00 hours is set.

3.3 Tuesday 18 June

Ms Merricks sends an email at 07:40 hours. Her transport consultant has been admitted to hospital. A third appointment was arranged for Friday 28 June at 10:00 hours.

3.4 Wednesday 26 June

Ms Merricks emails. Her consultant has had his appendix removed and won’t be available on the Friday. A final offer of an appointment is made, for 15 July 2024 at 10:00 hours.

3.5 15 July 2024

TE Copley attends the operating centre at 09:50 and leaves at 10:35. No one on site has heard of OPS and there is no contact from the company.

I was concerned that the company had now failed to cooperate and meet with DVSA on seven different occasions. I proposed to revoke the licence on the grounds of fitness and finance and a letter was sent to the operator on 1 August saying that.

Ms Merricks responded out of time on 27 August. She blamed the late response on “personal issues”. A public inquiry is listed for today.

On 6 December, my office received a witness statement from PC James Else of the Metropolitan Police. PC Else tells me that he was on duty on 29 November in full uniform in a marked police vehicle when his attention is caught by the driving style of a 26 tonne curtain-sided MAN TGX. The driver is Saad Ahmad, former director of the company and former operator licence holder.

Apart from the erratic driving, PC Else finds that the vehicle is loaded with pallets with no load security of any kind, the curtains not being load-bearing. The tachograph calibration had expired six months previously. The head unit download exposed numerous instances of driving with no card inserted. Most were short and could be explained by yard movements but others showed the vehicle travelling 50 – 60 km at around 20 mph and lasted about 2 hours. PC Else could not identify the driver at those times.

Mr Ahmad’s driver card showed almost no driving. Apart from the current day, there had been no driving for 1051 hours (44 days). Mr Ahmad said he had driven in-scope in that time but had lost his card so not used it. He had not made printouts as required. Mr Ahmad explained that he was a pallet man and most of his work was in the yard driving a forklift and suchlike. None of that was recorded on his tachograph as it is required to be.

The vehicle’s MOT had expired on 30 September 2024. The tachograph head unit showed that the vehicle had generally been driven Monday to Thursday every week since the expiry of the MOT.

Mr Ahmad had seven points on his licence. PC Else was concerned that this may invalidate his insurance. Aviva subsequently confirmed that the insurance was rendered invalid by the driver’s points and the lack of MOT. The vehicle was seized and driven to Perivale pound. It was found that the nearside front indicator was inoperative and the vehicle was prohibited. It was further prohibited due to the uncalibrated tachograph. Mr Ahmad was given £750 worth of fixed penalties for the tachograph and load security offences and reported for the insurance matter.

On Monday 6 December, Ms Merricks emailed my office to say that she had Covid and could not attend today. The case manager responded to ask for evidence of the positive test and offered that the inquiry be heard over Microsoft Teams. Nothing has been heard since.

4. THE PUBLIC INQUIRY

Almost inevitably, no-one has attended today. I have no evidence that the director is unable to attend via a Teams link. I have no evidence that she is unwell at all. This is now the eighth appointment where illness or childcare have apparently prevented her attending. It seems highly likely that the latest adjournment request was simply an attempt to defer the fateful day when decisions have to be made. I proceed to make those decisions.

5. FINDINGS OF FACT

No finances have been provided. The listed vehicles are elderly and access to financial resources is required. I have no evidence of such finances. Section 26(1)(h) is made out in that regard.

The operator has on eight occasions failed to co-operate with a regulatory or enforcement body. That is entirely unacceptable. Operator licensing is based on trust and trust requires a response and cooperation. That goes to the fitness of the operator to hold a licence and I find this operator no longer fit. Section 26(1)(h) is further made out.

The findings of PC Else from his encounter with the former director and clearly employee Saad Ahmad are quite shocking. The driver had failed to use his tachograph to record either driving time or other work. The tachograph was uncalibrated and the vehicle out of MOT. The load was not secured at all. There was no insurance. And an indicator was not working. Any one of those matters would call in to question the operator’s fitness to hold a licence. All of them together clearly make the operator unfit and I again find Section 26(1)(h) made out.

Disqualification is not automatic but nor does it require any additional feature. Here there is a combination of operating a vehicle in a dangerous condition with an abject failure to cooperate despite many attempts. It is clear that Optimum Pallet Services and Vanessa de Sousa Araujo Merricks are not prepared to work in a regulated environment. A period of reflection outside the industry is necessary.

6. DECISIONS

Pursuant to a finding of loss of access to financial resources and of fitness to hold a licence, the licence is revoked with immediate effect pursuant to Section 26(1)(h).

Optimum Pallet Services and Vanessa de Sousa Araujo Merricks are each disqualified from applying for or holding an operator’s licence in any traffic area for a period of three years.

Saad Ahmad is referred for consideration of a driver conduct hearing which will need to await outcome of the no-insurance matter,

Kevin Rooney

Traffic Commissioner

11 December 2024