Haulage bosses disqualified
Firm and operator are banned for five years
Two directors of haulage firms with the same Bothwell-registered address have received lengthy bans from the transport regulator.
Robert Ball and the firm of which he was director – Total Logistics of Fallside Industrial Unit – was prohibited from operating for five years with effect from November 18 by the Transport Commissioner for Scotland.
Alexander Beattie, who had been director of A&S Transport Ecosse Ltd, also of Fallside Industrial Unit, was disqualified from applying or holding an operator’s licence for three years.
The penalties were imposed on grounds which included Total using the A&S licence in a front arrangement.
Total had run vehicles “in excess of authorisation” to carry out their own work streams and those of another haulage firm, SDS Logistics Ltd of Bonnybridge, which had been disqualified from operating for two years in December 2011. Traffic Commissioner for Scotland Joan Aitken, in her a ruling following a public inquiry, stated: “Mr Ball has proved himself to be a rotten operator and one who should be [stopped from] operating goods vehicles and for some time.
“This I will do not only through the inevitable revocation of the Total Logistics licence, which I now order on grounds of loss of repute, loss of professional competence, absence of financial standing, material change, breach of the licence undertakings and use of an unauthorised operating centre.
“The non-compliance is at the serious end given the engagement with a disqualified person and even the forays into England. Nothing short of a five-year disqualification would be appropriate to this case and accordingly I order that Total and Mr Ball as director be disqualified for five years.”
The Commissioner had refused an application for an operator’s licence to SDS Logistics in December 2011, disqualifying the company and its directors Donald Richardson, Dawn Mcclung and Scott Mcclung for two years. Mr Ball, of Bridge of Allan, had been operating goods vehicles using a licence granted to A&S Transport Ecosse Limited. A&S was a front for the operations of goods vehicles through arrangements by Scott Mcclung.
Ms Aitken pointed out: “As is often the case it is hard working honest drivers who suffer when operators go down. However, commerce abhors a vacuum and a purpose of revocation [of a licence] is to divert work from operators and persons such as Total/ Sds/mcclung (of Sds)/ball/beattie/a&s to honest compliant operators and their honest drivers.
“Such is my low regard and mistrust of Mr Ball that I’m in little doubt he will look to circumvent my orders. Other operators and transport managers should be wary of approaches.”
The former director and transport manager of A&S, Alexander Beattie, was also disqualified from holding and operating a licence for three years.
When the company was incorporated in September 2015 Mr Beattie was sole director and shareholder. He resigned in June this year. Mr Ball had been appointed as an A&S director in May this year. A&S had been doing work for Asda, Streamline and Wincanton.
Ms Aitken said: “I find that A&S Logistics was a front for the operation of goods vehicles by arrangements made by Scott Mcclung and SDS Logistics and at no time was Alexander Beattie a genuine operator or in control of that business. A&S was used by Scott Mcclung and thereafter by Total and Mr Ball to provide an operator’s licence.
“The whole engagement of Alexander Beattie in operator licensing and holding the A&S licence is a very sorry affair from which his repute either as operator or as transport manager cannot survive.
“I have no alternative but to remove his repute given he was director of A&S at the material time.
“Having removed his repute I can also disqualify him for the future. It is appropriate and proportionate that I do so.
“His behaviour struck at the very heart of the purposes of operator licensing - a regime there to keep us safe, to protect our environment, to protect fair competition and to counter criminality.”