TCs’ report: in-depth regional round-up

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Monday 5 December 2016

lawThe seven traffic commissioners (TCs) of Great Britain have released their annual report for 2015-16, highlighting a broad range of transport compliance and enforcement issues identified during the course of the year, and their priorities for future progress.

The commissioners, who preside over the eight regional traffic areas, identified key concerns with regard to operator compliance, driving and maintenance standards, as well as problem areas for the authorities themselves to tackle in order to improve the services they offer.

East of England

TC Richard Turfitt, who oversees the largest traffic area, in the east of England, said he made little apology for “sounding like a broken record” when it came to vehicle inspections.

“As DVSA estimates that half of MoT fails could be avoided by checking that light-bulbs work, the condition and pressures of tyres and that mirrors, wipers and washers work, there is further work to do,” he said.

“I am appalled by the number of operators who have not even checked whether their inspection sheets are up to date by reference to DVSA’s Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness.

“In the space of two weeks, two unconnected operators appeared before me suggesting their vehicles were being inspected against safety standards from 1972.”

He also highlighted concerns over the number of operators who fail to implement effective digital download practices, and those who download but fail to analyse or act on the results.

Scaffolders and waste contractors were singled out as particularly problematic, as the TC said he failed to understand how some operators: “can apparently be so alive to health and safety or environmental legislation, and yet so ignorant of operator licensing.”

The TC also reserved some of his ire for institutional inefficiencies within government, which he identified as reminiscent of an eighties sitcom, and a frequent burden on his operation.

“A sense of humour can help,” he said.

“Like most viewers I still find Yes Minister tremendously funny but it can be less enjoyable when you live it day on day. It is difficult to function efficiently when it can take nearly an hour to log on remotely.

dvsaenforcement“I cannot help notice that the recruitment to a public liaison post has been given priority by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) over a permanent head of the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC).

“I have no clue as to why files would be accommodated in storage which costs a small fortune to retrieve and with little reference to the data management legislation.

“I am similarly at sea as to why it takes weeks for financial approval to fill a post, which already exists and which operators have already paid for.”

In view of the driver shortage, Turfitt also highlighted the importance of improved driver facilities in order to attract more newcomers to the industry.

“I can pass on the concern of representatives and residents concerning the unsanitary state of parts of the A14 in particular,” he said.

“It does the image of industry great harm.”

North East of England

TC Kevin Rooney began by outlining developments in the passenger transport sector in his patch, both in Tyne & Wear – where the local passenger transport executive’s bid to move to a franchised bus service network had been found to fall short of statutory criteria – and in Sheffield, where a complete redesign of the network had yielded a steady increase in patronage.

“Back in the day job, it would be easy to say that little has changed,” said Rooney.

“That is because nothing really has.”

“The same steady flow of restricted operators remains, especially taxi operators trying, and generally failing, to run one or two minibuses safely.”

The bed manufacturing sector, prominent in West Yorkshire, was also singled out for criticism of its fleet operations, whose level of non-compliance Rooney said was “of serious concern”.

“I am engaging with their own trade association to see what can be done to stop so many ending up at public inquiry with dangerously serious failings,” said the TC.

Further problem areas included what he called a “lack of proper engagement of transport managers with the analysis of data from driver cards and vehicle units”.

tachograph“Data is downloaded, sometimes reports are produced, but it seems only rarely does anyone take notice of what they say,” he reported.

“I have certainly found many operators who fail to compare the vehicle unit data with that on the driver card, or who don’t even subscribe to the ’missing mileage’ report.

“The unlucky ones end up in front of me to explain why their drivers are driving ‘off the card’. Such falsifications of records will always carry serious consequences for drivers and for their employers if their systems are found to be lacking.”

Maintenance was another key area of concern. Transport managers often failed to identify and eradicate the root cause of the problem, said the TC, after relating what he called a scene from “a typical public inquiry”.

TC: “So the wheels fell off. The police retrieved them from a nearby field. What did you do then?”

Transport manager: “The fitter went out with some new nuts and bolted them back on. He had a big bar with him – they won’t come off again in a hurry.”

TC: “So why did they fall off in the first place?”

Transport manager: “Because all the nuts had come off.”

TC: “So why had all the nuts come off?”

Transport manager: “They must have worked loose.”

TC: “Why did they work loose? When was the wheel last removed? Who removed and replaced it? Were the mating faces cleaned? Was the wheel re-torqued after 30 minutes or a few miles? Is your torque wrench in calibration? Do drivers know the setting for the different vehicles? Just what is your wheel re-torque procedure?”

Transport manager: “Our what?”

North West of England

Much of north-western TC Beverley Bell’s regional work is delegated to deputies, as a result of the demands of her additional role as senior traffic commissioner (STC).

But she said: “It is vital that I still conduct public inquiry work, and it is this work that I enjoy the most – putting those operators who have lost their way back on the road to compliance, and putting those operators who have no intention of complying with their operator licence obligations out of business so that compliant operators can pick up the work that they rightly lose.”

Deputy TC Simon Evans then took up the reins in the report, noting that, with TCs’ support staff under increased pressure due to high levels of activity, the rollout of a new online system to support O-licensing “will arrive not a moment too soon”.

“It will allow for a slicker, more accurate and speedier processing of applications benefiting both our staff, all seeking to provide an ever more consistent and effective service, as well as licence holders looking to earlier consideration of their applications,” he said.

On compliance, he highlighted “obvious but recurrent failures” to comply with the undertakings attached to O-licences, not least echoing his colleagues’ comments around the “surprising and concerning absence of proper procedures and systems to download digital vehicle data units, and to obtain and review missing mileage reports”.

Another issue Evans identified was: “unnotified changes of entity, very typically following the professional advice of accountants, but without any understanding of the implications for the licence in possession and the need to obtain a fresh licence” – while failure to keep to agreed maintenance intervals also remained a common feature of cases he had dealt with.

He also emphasised the importance of transport managers to be proactive in keeping skills and knowledge up-to-date.

“In common with so many professional roles the need for continuing professional development (CPD) is a well established principle. It strikes me that is about time that all transport managers, and critically the sole traders, partners and directors who commonly employ and manage them,  ensure that they achieve the necessary bolstering of their competence which their critical role so clearly requires,” he said.

London and the South East of England

Nick Denton, TC for the London and south-eastern traffic area, identified several sub-sectors of the industry which he said were “particularly prone to running non-compliantly” – including tipper, plant hire, skip hire, scaffolding and food wholesale operators.

“I took the opportunity this year to travel in the cab of a tipper vehicle to a waste site, to see for myself the condition of the terrain over which the vehicles are expected to travel, which seems to be partly responsible for the large number of tyre problems which these vehicles attract,” said Denton.

“Our vehicle travelled for more than half a mile over sharp protruding objects, in axle deep sludge, to dump its load.

“The need to go on such sites means that operators want vehicles with high ground clearance, which has implications for driver visibility and cyclist/passenger safety when driving on normal roads. Surely it would be better for tippers to tip their load at or near the entrance to the site and for the waste then to be distributed around the site by specialist off-road vehicles.”

The TC also highlighted the difficulties faced by urban operators in the collection or delivery sectors in finding a suitable place for drivers to take mandatory breaks, without having to drive all the way out of London.

“Often drivers taking their break are moved on, either by the police or other authorities on the public road, or by the businesses to whose premises they are delivering or from which they are collecting,” he said.

“I have some sympathy with the problem, but the best operators mitigate it by route planning, sending out extra drivers and concluding agreements which enable their vehicles to park on premises for drivers to take breaks. Too many operators just leave it to the drivers to sort the problem out and then seem surprised when they fail.”

While he praised some fleets for taking immediate remedial action when called to inquiry, the TC added that he was “still surprised by the rank amateurism and shocking ignorance which prevails in the long underperforming tail of the UK road haulage industry”.

“When coming to public inquiry, they seek to impress me that they have redressed the faults by showing me a myriad of communications to drivers saying that their failures “will not be tolerated” and the next one will result in “instant dismissal” – ie they seek to blame the drivers rather than attend to their own inability to manage.

“I am not impressed by such a management style,” he said.

“It is the licences of such operators which tend to be revoked and their holders disqualified. But the story does not always end there. This year I have seen a disqualified operator attempt to continue to operate through various fronts, including her 18 year old daughter. A disqualified plant hire operator has used at least three other businesses as fronts for continued operations.

“I sometimes think that if these people had put the same effort into complying with the rules as they subsequently do in trying to circumvent the consequences of their licence’s revocation, there would never have been any problem.”

West Midlands

Nick Jones, the TC for both Wales and the West Midlands, noted that this would be his last report as a TC for two distinct traffic areas.

He said that the West Midlands area’s move to having its own full-time commissioner “should reduce waiting times in listing outstanding cases in my Birmingham office, which is a long-standing problem” – as well as “enabling fuller and better liaison with local industry and trade associations”.

“It is a source of pride that as far as the Birmingham office is concerned, it is in the healthiest state since I was appointed in 2007,” the TC added.

One issue he emphasised was the need to dramatically reduce waiting times in the operator licensing process.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that if the level of service required by transport businesses is to be delivered we must look again at the legal architecture. The resources available are far too limited in scope and the staff too small in number to bring about this kind of business change.

“The Triennial Review went as far as to suggest that a separate centralised licensing body might offer more efficient and effective service. This would leave locally based TCs to concentrate upon their specialist tribunal functions.”

Jones continued: “I hope that resources can be concentrated on speeding up processing times for operator licensing. When faced with the obvious benefits to the industries I see no good reason why an alternative licensing structure should be discounted.”

He also highlighted his work on the refreshed STC’s statutory guidance and directions.

mobilephone_lowres“The contribution to road safety is evidenced by the fact that our work, highlighting the significance of drivers distracted by use of mobile phones and other similar distraction offences, has merited particular attention.

“I am also pleased that consideration is being given to increasing the number of penalty points to be imposed for CU80 offences (mobile phone and other distraction offences), as part of a consultation launched by Department for Transport (DfT) in January this year. Good regulation in this area will help reduce accidents and save lives.

“The suggestion of a separate code for committing the same offence in a commercial vehicle is especially welcome, as is the consideration of a larger number of penalty points for offences committed in commercial vehicles. I have no doubt of the potential for improvements to road safety.”

West of England

TC Sarah Bell chose this year to focus on what she called ‘the chain of responsibility’ – namely, the idea “that duties, such as those on the operator, transport manager, driver (even regulator) are not mutually exclusive. It represents a more positive way of communicating the collective impact of individual decisions, i.e. ‘all in it together’.”

She highlighted the area of safe loading, awareness of which she said had been high in the Western traffic area for some time thanks to the Remote Enforcement Office pilot.

“Much of the commercial vehicle industry acts responsibly and with a positive approach (albeit there is still much work to be done) but that is just one element,” she said.

She praised the work of Nina Day, senior engineer for road and workplace transport at the Health & Safety Executive’s Health & Safety Laboratory, who she said “is seeking to take the message along the supply chain – a safe load is not just the responsibility of the operator and driver.”

dvsa_inspectionSarah Bell emphasised: “Safety must come first and the whole of the supply chain must play its part as rollovers kill.”

She was sharply critical of the DVSA’s decision to use front line examiners for testing vehicles without consultation, which she said: “caused significant interruption to TCs’ throughput of work. This directly impacts on licence holders and applicants awaiting decisions.

“Of course vehicles need to be tested, but so do under-performing operators who present a potential risk, so too prospective operating centres to allow responsible operators to expand their business and to keep them performing optimally. Business interruption undermines growth at every stage and has the potential to derail safety.”

Another issue Bell focused on was a “disconcerting backlog” of new operator seminars, which as of April was estimated to take 70 days’ effort to clear.

“This means that a large number of operators starting out may have a lower standard of compliance than otherwise, which will only add to the resource burden, not to mention the potential risk to road safety later on.”

DVSA had committed to addressing the problem, she said, but added that operators were entitled to ask what happened to the fees that were allocated to the new operator seminars last year – having reflected that “’fees’ is a four-letter word”.

She added: “Fees presently have a disproportionate impact on SMEs. They must therefore be used for the purposes they are collected. TCs cannot be accountable if the support given them does not follow the clear chain of responsibility and deliver proper transparency.

“The fees discussion needs to be approached positively, both in terms of reform and accountability… Proper funding is the necessary bedrock if we are to meet the expectations of stakeholders and comply with the legislation.”

Scotland

Prominent in TC Joan Aitken’s report this year was the Glasgow bin lorry crash of December 2014.

“The sheriff principal issued his determination on 7 December 2015 which is why I mention the bin lorry crash in this year’s report for now we know why the crash happened,” she said.

“The sheriff principal’s findings make for relevant reading for all of us involved in road safety whether as regulators, licensing authorities, drivers, employers or policy makers.

“Some road traffic incidents remain only in the memories of those directly affected; this one will be remembered for a very long time… It provides a tragic touchstone for why regulation and licensing are important. It gives leverage and sad potency to the messages I want to give about the importance of compliance.”

“The reassuring news from that inquiry was that the operator of the vehicle, Glasgow City Council, was not found wanting in its operator licence duties,” said Aitken.

“There were no issues with vehicle roadworthiness or with driver rostering. Much came down to the health of driver Clarke, the nature and efficaciousness of driver declarations, reporting to the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) medical and how to assess driver medical fitness.

“For me it underscored that regulatory systems are brought in to counter future harms after harm has been done; that processes serve to alert and discipline the vast majority into ways which counter risk and that trust is an active requirement.

cvshow_dvsa_lowres“Thus when trust is lost it is very serious whether that is a driver lying to or misleading an employer, medical person or DVLA; just as it is when applicants or operators and their representatives are not straightforward with us as regulators.

“The lessons for all operators from the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy are to be as compliant as Glasgow City Council was and have the licence undertakings fully implemented and demonstrable so that if something bad happens there is that comfort; that drivers cannot be taken at face value however honest a face they might have – never assume someone you know as a driver in your community actually has a licence.

“Once upon a time they might have but many drivers run on without renewing their licence entitlements; without going for the medicals; without opening the mail and reading of the suspension or revocation of their licence.

“I have accepted or directed the resignations of a number of transport managers this year on basis of fundamental ignorance over how to check a driver licence. There is a desperation to many drivers for they feel that driving is all they know and all they can do and so they will strive to keep driving and set their face against the signs that they are not well or still up to the job.”

Among the other dangers highlighted by Aitken were those posed by driver mobile phone use, which she identified as “the new driver distraction, the cause of road traffic fatalities and injuries”.

“I continue to receive reports from Police Scotland and DVLA of professional drivers using their phones when in charge of buses, coaches and HGVs,” said Aitken.

“Too many of the latter turn out to be operators putting business before safety by calling – or expecting their drivers to take calls – when they are out on the road.”

On the passenger operator side of the job, Aitken said that the number of bus punctuality and reliability cases had been much reduced compared with previous years. However, she warned that congestion-causing roadworks, among other factors, were putting timely bus services at risk.

“I consider there is a real risk that unless the needs of bus passengers are given the traffic management priority which their high number deserves, bus punctuality will continue to deteriorate,” she said.

“This would be lamentable given the many brilliant initiatives otherwise coming from the bus industry and manufacturers.”

Wales

Moving on to discuss his Wales brief, TC Nick Jones said that, following issues in previous years relating to lower safety standards in the principality and concerns regarding compliance with Welsh language legislation, he was “delighted” by an agreement by the Welsh government to fund the additional costs required for an eighth full-time TC, supported by bilingual staff.

“Every traffic area has been affected by the introduction of Next Generation Testing with DVSA prioritising MoT checks on commercial vehicles, often at the expense of local enforcement,” said Jones.

“This is particularly true in Wales compared to other parts of Great Britain. In part this arises from the fact that Wales, especially South Wales, historically had a lower level of vehicle and traffic examiner presence on the local road network.

“This, in turn, has resulted in significant periods of time with little or no adverse reports being made to my office. Periods of weeks passed between public inquiries.

“For the avoidance of doubt this should not be taken to suggest a high level of compliance; instead it reflects the paucity of enforcement within Wales. The report for my other traffic area makes reference to delays in hearing cases due to the volume of referrals; this is in marked contrast to the level of enforcement work emanating in Wales.

“No doubt whoever is appointed full time TC for Wales will reflect on the optimum means of improving standards of road safety for the commercial vehicle industry. There is an opportunity for the new TC for Wales to develop the strands under the Regulators’ Code, namely communication, education, engagement and the issuing of guidance.

“That is not to say that regulatory action shouldn’t be taken where necessary, but accords with the new targeted approach advocated by the TCs.”

He also highlighted a future requirement for PSV operators to meet standards in relation to the Welsh language.

“Whilst Welsh language standards have been introduced for public sector and other organisations (that most ordinary members of the public might perceive as public sector) the extension to PSV operators is possibly the first true private sector interaction with the Welsh Language Commissioner,” he said.

“I have been seeking to ensure that those who register local bus services in Wales contribute to the consultation process.”