Another member of quality benchmarking scheme Fors has had its wrists slapped in a public inquiry (PI).
Records published by the Office of the Traffic Commissioner show that Westerham-based haulier DWP (Recycling) had its O-licence suspended for three days at a public inquiry held by TC Nick Denton on 11 September.
Denton took the action after the operator - a bronze-accredited member of the Fors scheme - failed to abide by a previous undertaking to have roller brake tests carried out every three months, despite this condition being imposed as part of a successful application last year to increase the number of vehicles on its licence.
Since the application in June 2014, six prohibitions had been incurred in 12 encounters - one of them S marked - and loose wheel nuts had proved to be a recurring problem, noted the TC at the latest PI.
Denton said the company “has not really taken seriously enough” its undertaking to have roller brake tests conducted, adding that “the condition of these vehicles has on too many occasions been unacceptable”.
He also said director and transport manager David Wales had an “obvious antipathy towards DVSA and the police”.
DWP (Recycling) is just the latest in a long line of Fors members to have action taken against them in PIs in the London and South East traffic area and its suspension will come as a further embarrassment to the Fors governing body, the Fors Community Partnership, given the scheme’s emphasis on compliance and safety.
Lead Fors concessionaire Aecom still has not responded to a request for comment after it emerged that 45 Fors members, including three Fors gold firms and seven Fors silver firms, had had action taken against them for compliance failings in the last two years.
Meanwhile Optimus Access, the bronze-accredited Fors member that had a restricted operating licence application refused and its interim licence revoked after it was found to have been operating a 7.5 tonne truck without a licence and overloaded, is to make a fresh application for a licence on 13 October. The firm, which subsequently lost an appeal over the licence refusal, is seeking fresh authorisation for eight vehicles and six trailers.
The Fors website continues to carry an endorsement by former FTA chief executive Theo de Pencier suggesting that it “gives customers peace of mind that the organisation they contract with takes safety and compliance seriously”.
