Shifting the blame

Following a public inquiry at the end of November, Hunter Transport had their licence revoked and the operator was disqualified from holding an operator’s licence for a minimum of five years.

Mr Hunter was caught operating too many vehicles for his licence and there were more than two hundred drivers’ hours offences within a three-month period. The operator sought to blame all of the problems on his drivers, but it was found that the company had a transport manager ‘in name only’ for at least a decade.

The operator was also found to have pressured his drivers into the offences and falsified records.

The traffic commissioner for Scotland, Claire Gilmore said “I did not believe the operator’s claim to believe that all the journeys he allocated to his drivers could all be completed lawfully and within time. Two of the drivers who gave evidence spoke of a culture of pressure which led to them offending to try and complete their journeys on time. The operator did not ask his drivers to break the law, but the culture of pressure he created, coupled with his deliberate failure to monitor driving activity, actively encouraged it.

“I considered that the operator’s willingness to deceive, coupled with his wilful neglect and repeated failings, demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the operator licensing regime on his part. Such behaviour led me to conclude that I was unable to trust this operator in the future.”

Further details can be found here.