Edinburgh coach firm’s licence halved for a month by Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner
Order to reduce licence from eight to four vehicles comes after public inquiry
Company driver suspended for two weeks for driving without the correct entitlement
Edinburgh based Cramond Coaches Ltd will be prevented from running four of its vehicles during February 2014 following a ruling by Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner.
Joan Aitken, who held a public inquiry into the firm’s operator’s licence, said she was “highly displeased” that it had breached licence undertakings and by director Graham Pender’s “lack of full cooperation” with a government enforcement body.
The company, which operates from West Harbour Road in Edinburgh, appeared before the bus and coach industry regulator following an investigation by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (incorporating VOSA and DSA) and a report from Lothian and Borders Police.
During the inquiry, Miss Aitken heard the force carried out a check at Prospect Bank School on 28 August 2012. They found that an employee working for Cramond Coaches Ltd did not have the correct entitlement to drive the vehicle he was using.
As a result, officers from the DVSA – the government agency responsible for commercial vehicle and driver standards – requested records from the company relating to its drivers and their work. However, the company initially failed to provide this documentation.
When the records were made available, a traffic examiner found that two of the company’s drivers had driven on a total of 90 occasions without the correct licence entitlement for the vehicles they were using.
She also told the Miss Aitken of other shortcomings with the firm’s record keeping.
In addition, the officer said that director Graham Pender told her a vehicle was carrying out an airport run when records from the vehicle’s
tachograph unit showed that it had not actually carried out that journey.
In evidence to the Traffic Commissioner, Mr Pender said that he now understood that when the DVSA asked for something, he had to comply. In respect of the driving licences of his employees, he had checked their entitlements every six months but thought that the categories listed on the licences allowed them to drive all types of passenger transport.
He added that he had learned from his mistakes and did not want to be at public inquiry again. The company was no longer carrying out school
contracts and concentrated on other work, including moving airline crews.
In a written decision issued after the hearing, Miss Aitken said that the company’s failure to fully cooperate with the inspectors was not
acceptable.
“The operator did not cooperate by having vehicles available to the examiner when she asked for such. The traffic examiners deserve
cooperation.
“I am highly displeased by the breaches of the licence undertakings and by Mr Pender’s lack of full cooperation,” she added. “It shows a contempt for operator licensing.”
The Traffic Commissioner also made an order to suspend the vocational driving licence of one of the company’s drivers, Ian Taylor, from 23:59 on 17 January for two weeks.
“I do this because a professional driver must ensure he has the correct entitlement. It was his responsibility and he had not sat or passed the required driving test.”
Mr Taylor took the necessary driver training and passed the required test after the issue had been brought to his attention.
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