Advice has been given by the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner that transport managers need to be vigilant when they are put down on an operator’s license. Nick Denton has released this advice after news of a replacement Traffic Manager said he has no contact with the license holder during the time that his application was being reviewed.
The traffic regulator has suggested that a traffic manager should be concerned if they are asked to be on a license and submits the forms then doesn’t have any further contact with the traffic manager. Renford Stephenson is the Traffic Manager in this case and he has been advised that a lack of contact from an operator after agreeing to be named on a license is strong sign that all is not well.
The operator in this instance was Ace Drinks Ltd, and the company didn’t employ Mr. Stephenson as a replacement traffic Manager during a consideration process. The process was delayed significantly because the company had failed to respond to correspondence that had come from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.
The Traffic Commissioner, Nick Denton has suggested that because Mr. Stephenson did not have any involvement with Ace Drinks Ltd, while his application was being considered. It was thought that he never exercised the transport manager’s role even in an informal capacity. There was a public inquiry on 21st March 2017 which was attended by Mr. Stephenson in Birmingham that looked at the operator’s license that was held by Ace Drinks. Stephenson’s reputation was considered in a public enquiry that took place in December with a different operator, this time T J Movers Ltd. During the December inquiry, he was told he could retain his repute if he attended a CPC refresher course, which Stephenson did.
The March inquiry has led to The Traffic Commissioner suspending the license of Ace Drinks for 12 months due to a lack of professional competence, as they had failed to respond to a number of different correspondence as well as operating for 14 months without a functioning transport manager.
