Large haulage operator, defended by Ben Close KC, retains its licence following a public inquiry before the Traffic Commissioner

Ben Close KC and Ben Henry, Partner at Jonas Roy Bloom Solicitors, defended a large haulage company at a public inquiry held by the Traffic Commissioner.

The inquiry was concerned with a large number of allegations relating to the company’s operator’s licence, and the effective management of its activities by its Traffic Managers ‘TMs’ (i.e. whether they were of ‘good repute’). The company owns and operates a fleet of 37 lorries and 20 trailers across 4 sites. The allegations included operating at an unauthorised operating centre, failing to comply with the terms of its licence, and failing to notify changes to its circumstances. The allegations arose from an inspection which followed one of its lorries being stopped with a deflated tyre and an unsecure load.  Ben and Ben represented both the directors of company and the 2 TMs.

After evidence was called, the Commissioner allowed the company to retain its licence and continue trading without a suspension, with some appropriate undertakings. A curtailment of its ‘margin’ for 28 days (the reduction in its 40 authorised vehicles to the 37 lorries it currently operated) was also imposed.

In the lead-up to the Inquiry, Ben and Ben worked closely with the company to prepare and serve evidence and spent time at the company’s premises to better understand how it operated. The Office of the Traffic Commissioner is a small jurisdiction, and those with real-world experience of its intricacies can be hard to find.