The case of Concept Scaffolding Services Ltd, recently heard by the Traffic Commissioner for the East of England and Senior Traffic Commissioner, Richard Turfitt, has highlighted issues from which other licence holders might learn.
The company holds a restricted goods vehicle operator's licence authorising two vehicles. Both directors, Andrew Erskine and Karl Takkou were present at the hearing.
On 4 September 2024, a Traffic Examiner stopped a vehicle driven by Karl Takkou and discovered multiple infractions. Mr. Takkou failed to insert his digital tachograph driver card, admitting he had left it in another vehicle despite knowing the requirement to use it. The vehicle also lacked an operator licence disc, and the vehicle unit had not been downloaded for over seven years. No driver card had been inserted into the vehicle's unit for 28 days.
A subsequent visit by another Traffic Examiner on 4 October 2024 was marked as unsatisfactory, identifying deficiencies in compliance systems. The investigation found prolonged failures to download vehicle unit and driver card data, as well as instances of driving without tachograph use.
Simply put, directors had not adequately equipped themselves with the necessary knowledge to manage transport operations effectively. While they had engaged a transport consultant, serious concerns remained.
In deciding to only curtail the licence by one vehicle for one month, Mr Turfitt took account of the corrective measures employed after the stop: introducing a driver defect reporting system, acquiring a company card for vehicle downloads, and adopting a structured compliance monitoring approach. Mr. Takkou had attended a Transport Manager Refresher Course, and the directors committed to ongoing compliance training. Additionally, driver Karl Takkou's vocational entitlement was suspended for the same period.
Commissioner Turfitt commented: "The Directors were so ill-equipped that there was little prospect of them meeting the licence obligations and yet it is difficult to understand why any business, which all carry obligations under health and safety legislation, had failed to identify the risks and to at least employ basic measures or seek advice. The fitness of this operator has been severely tarnished by their failures…Applicants should read the published guidance and work out what is required before even attempting to complete the application form. Scaffolders and similar operators applying for restricted operator licences need to start giving the same attention to these basic requirements as they would the tax or health & safety regimes."
Undertakings were accepted to ensure future compliance, including appointing an independent compliance auditor and ongoing oversight from a transport consultant. The operator must submit an audit report to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner within six months.
While improvements have been noted, the Commissioner emphasised that compliance with licensing regulations is fundamental, and future breaches will result in harsher consequences.
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