Two Midlands builders' merchants see operating HGV licences revoked

Two builders’ merchant companies have been disqualified from holding HGV licences by the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner and their licences revoked.

M K Builders' Merchants, which held a restricted operator’s licence for two trucks, came before traffic commissioner Nick Denton after concerns were raised about its maintenance record following an investigation by DVSA in 2019, which found that the company had a very poor maintenance record and almost no understanding of the rules.

The investigation found that the company had three roadworthiness prohibitions out of four encounters, for an inoperative direction indicator and a leaking brake valve, as well as multiple MOT failures.

At the time the company had given assurances that it would improve compliance.

Nick Denton, the traffic commissioner found that these assurances had not been followed up by the company in any effective way. He revoked the company’s licence, and disqualified the company and its director Mohinder Singh from holding a licence for 12 months.

The second case involved HRA Builders' Merchant, which the traffic commissioner found had already started to operate goods vehicles before its application for a standard national licence had been granted in September 2021.

The public inquiry heard that the company failed to respond to requests for an explanation and failed to appear at the public inquiry. Denton revoked its licence and disqualified the company and its directors Ansar Ali and Saika Bibi indefinitely from holding one in the future. He also warned that if the company continues to operate goods vehicles, it is in danger of having them impounded.

Denton said MK Builders' Merchants “might be able to survive using third party haulage or smaller vehicles. But if it cannot, then this will be a merited outcome for non-compliance on this scale and over such a period of time.”

In his decision on HRA Builders' Merchants, Denton said: “The operator is not of good repute. It has operated vehicles without authority to do so. Its failure to respond to my clerk’s request for simple tachograph information and its failure to appear at inquiry show that it is not interested in engaging with the regulatory process.”