4) Beverley Bell, senior Traffic Commissioner
Simply, were it not for Bell, and her fellow TCs, no company in road transport would have a business - which puts the statements she made in the summer in a particularly worrying context.
Bell said that there are “not enough hours in the day or days in the week” for the TCs to carry out their duties. She also claimed central and regional offices are increasingly having to rely on agency staff, which she believes creates a lack of continuity and understanding of complex cases.
While the TCs suffer from a lack of resource, Bell is never shy of putting the TCs point of view across on the major issues affecting the industry. In October she supported the Transport Select Committee’s view that the Driver CPC is a waste of time and money for hauliers and needs significant revision , describing the quality of some training provision as poor. Bell has brought stability to the TCs in recent years, after numerous personnel changes, reinforcing her standing in the industry.
Over the next 20 days we will be counting down our Top 20. As ever, we’d welcome your feedback and input into the debate. Send us your thoughts on Twitter - @Motor_Transport - using the hashtag #MTPowerPlayers