A dairy operation has had its applications for a fleet increase accepted, despite the Traffic Commissioner being warned about several convictions received by the group.
North-Eastern TC Tom Macartney said he was satisfied with the action taken to put matters right.
The TC granted an increase in the licence held by Medina Dairy (North of England) from 25 vehicles and four trailers to 60 vehicles and four trailers, and an application for a 20-vehicle licence by Medina Capital Dairy
Co.
Vehicle examiner Keith Craven said there had been four immediate prohibitions, one of which was 'S'-marked for a steering defect, and four delayed prohibitions issued to the company's vehicles.
For the two companies, Patrick Sadd said that the vehicle given the 'S'-marked prohibition had been taken off the road and had been used inadvertently. It had since been scrapped. The maintenance contractor and the drivers had been taken to task and the Freight Transport Association (FTA) was carrying out gate checks to check that drivers had picked up any faults before leaving the depot.
Asked about a conviction for unauthorised use, group transport manager Hayat Ali Syed said that the North of England company had been operating under an interim licence from Bradford. When the Huddersfield depot was acquired, it applied for a variation, but was told the variation could
not be sought until the substantive licence had been granted.
A conviction for using a vehicle without a test certificate, which was the vehicle given the 'S'-marked prohibition, arose due to a breakdown of communication between the Huddersfield and Bradford depots. A conviction for overloading arose when a driver came in late and put a double load on the vehicle. A second such conviction arose when a night loader put the wrong load on a 3.5-tonne vehicle.
The TC was satisfied with steps taken to prevent recurrence of the problems and a favourable report from the FTA.
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