Decision

Decision for CCS Waste Ltd

Published 6 May 2022

0.1 WEST MIDLANDS TRAFFIC AREA

1. DECISION OF THE TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER

1.1 PUBLIC INQUIRY HELD ON 28 APRIL 2022

2. OPERATOR: CCS WASTE LTD LICENCE OD2041942

3. Background

CCS Waste Ltd holds a standard national goods vehicle operator licence, granted on 5 July 2021, for six vehicles. The sole director of the company is Shaun McCarron. The first nominated transport manager on the licence from 5 July 2021 until his resignation on 29 August 2021 was Chris Staples. A TM1 form nominating Lori Wheeldon as transport manager was received on 23 September 2021 and she took up her post on 10 November 2021. She resigned as transport manager on 24 January 2022. I subsequently granted a period of grace until the date of the public inquiry for the company to operate without a transport manager.

Mr McCarron had been a director of Jones Waste Services Ltd (OD0266401) whose licence I had revoked at a public inquiry on 20 January 2021 after the DVSA had found very large gaps between safety inspections, vehicles in a very poor condition, ineffective driver defect reporting and no analyses of tachographs or drivers’ hours. So serious was the non-compliance detected that, as well as revoking the licence, I disqualified both Jones Waste Services Ltd and its director Andrew Jones from holding a licence for five years. Andrew Jones also lost his good repute as transport manager and was disqualified indefinitely from acting as such. I drew back (just) from disqualifying Shaun McCarron, as he had been a director less than a year and claimed he had not primarily been responsible for the road transport side of things. However, I stressed that if ever Mr McCarron wished to apply for a licence in the future, he should first have attended an operator licence management course and have engaged the services of a competent transport manager.

CCS Waste Ltd applied for a standard national operator’s licence on an application form signed by Mr McCarron on 23 February 2021, two weeks after the revocation of Jones Waste Ltd’s licence had taken effect. He attended an operator licence management course on 8 March 2021. The licence was granted under delegated authority by the central licensing office in Leeds: because the nature of the operation was almost identical to that of Jones Waste Ltd (including vehicles, operating centre and one company director), I would have called the application to a public inquiry had I been aware of it.

3.1 Other relevant history

Shaun McCarron had been the sole director of MC Recycling Ltd when that company applied in 2013 for a restricted operator’s licence. The application was considered by the then deputy traffic commissioner at a public inquiry. The deputy traffic commissioner granted the application but found that Mr McCarron “was at best naïve, at worst reckless with regard to licensing requirements” (the company was found to have operated vehicles without a licence). The DTC added that “I consider it essential, in any event, that there is a qualified transport manager in place for this licence” and required MC Recycling to apply to upgrade to a standard licence within four weeks. The licence was revoked after a public inquiry in July 2014 found that the operator lacked financial standing.

3.2 DVSA report

In November 2021 DVSA vehicle examiner Matthew Williscroft visited the operator’s premises to conduct an investigation. His report marked the operator “unsatisfactory”, the main issues of concern being:

• there were very sparse safety inspection records, considering that five vehicles had operated for five months. There was no evidence of vehicles being given a safety inspection before being put into service. For example, MX10 BCY was specified on the licence on 5 July 2021, but the first safety inspection record was dated 10 September 2021. Similarly, BF11 UXZ was specified on the licence on 5 July 2021, with its first recorded safety inspection dated 19 September 2021;

• both BF11 UXZ and FJ13 XSO had exceeded their tachograph calibration dates;

• there were numerous driver detectable defects recorded at the six-weekly preventative maintenance inspections. These were defects (broken lights, inoperative horn, damaged driver step etc) which should have been picked up by drivers on their daily walk-round checks, rather than only be identified at the next six-week inspection. All the driver defect reports looked at by VE Williscroft were marked “nil defects”;

• the safety inspections were being carried out by a mobile mechanic who was performing only inadequate static brake tests;

• two vehicles were inspected and given immediate prohibitions during the DVSA visit: BF11 UXZ for a broken indicator, defective steering component and loss of air in the braking system; and RK57KKU for a deep cut in one tyre.

In his reply, Mr McCarron accepted that vehicle safety inspection sheets had been “mislaid” and that tachograph calibration dates had been missed. He blamed the previous transport manager, Chris Staples. Mr Staples had always been paid on time and the company had thought, mistakenly, that he “was keeping on top of things”. In fact Mr Staples had “quite simply turned off”. “Neither I [Mr McCarron] or the company know why”. The reply stressed that the company had now found the “right person in Miss Wheeldon to bring us back where we need to be”.

Concerned by this report, I called both the company and its two previous transport managers (Lori Wheeldon having by this time resigned) to a public inquiry. The call-up letter was sent on 23 March 2022, with the inquiry to take place in Birmingham on 28 April 2022.

In response to his call-up letter, Chris Staples emailed my clerk on 23 March 2021, stating that he had never been told by either the operator or the traffic commissioner’s office that the licence had been granted. When he had found out that the operator was running vehicles he had promptly taken his name off the licence by email dated 29 August 2021. He had never been paid by CCS Waste Ltd. He was reluctant to attend the inquiry and accepted that, if he did not, his repute could be lost. He did not intend to pursue another role as transport manager.

I noted that Lori Wheeldon had resigned as transport manager by letter of 24 January 2022. She wrote that “due to continued and numerous shortfalls, I do not feel reassured enough that these will be rectified satisfactorily in order for the licence to remain compliant. Also, due to invoices going unpaid and a lack of any correspondence, I have been left with no choice but to cease association with the company”.

4. Public inquiry

The inquiry took place in Birmingham on 28 April 2022, with the director Shaun Mccarron and ex- transport manager Lori Wheeldon attending. As expected, Chris Staples did not appear. With Mr McCarron was prospective transport manager Stacey Smith, an employee of CCS Waste Ltd. She had recently passed her transport manager CPC exam and stood ready to be nominated as the new transport manager if the licence survived.

The operator had produced requested records in advance of the inquiry for which I was grateful. From my perusal of the records I noted:

• continuing numerous driver detectable defects on safety inspection sheets since the DVSA visit in November 2021, for example on safety inspection sheets relating to FJ13 XSO dated 3 December 2021, 10 January 2022 and 24 February 2022;

• the registered keeper of the vehicles was listed on the V5 documents as “Jones Waste”;

• the tachograph calibrations for the vehicles had been caried out for “Jones Waste Services”.

• contrary to the assurance given by Mr McCarron to DVSA that vehicles would henceforth be given “laden roller brake tests every other PMI [ie every 12 weeks]”, I could find only two records of roller brake tests since November 2021 – one (unladen) for BF11 UXZ on 18 February 2022, and one (unladen) for FJ13 XSO on 1 March 2022. I would have expected at least two laden roller brake tests for each vehicle;

• there were no missing mileage reports

Ex-transport manager Lori Wheeldon provided an advance submission to the effect that she had been led to believe that the previous transport manager (Chris Staples) had passed away and that they needed someone urgently. She had taken up her appointment on 10 November 2021: she had sent various emails and texts asking to meet but received no replies. The first communication she had received from the operator was dated 23 November 2021, after VE Williscroft’s visit. Only when she met Mr Williscroft had she become aware of the previous revoked licence and compliance history: nevertheless, she was prepared to work with CCS to address the issues identified in DVSA’s report. She had become increasingly frustrated with the company’s lack of communication with her, however: “it became clear that they did not want me to have any sort of control over the way things were being conducted”. She had therefore taken the decision to resign, which she had done on 24 January 2022.

Giving evidence, director Shaun McCarron stated that he thought that Chris Staples had been paid for his transport manager services. Mr Staples had turned up every couple of weeks [I noted that the commitment on the TM1 form Mr Staples had signed was for eight hours every Tuesday]. He accepted that there had been no laden brake tests and few even of a non-laden nature, and that there had been large gaps of more than six weeks between safety inspections. He accepted that CCS Waste Ltd had not yet paid for the vehicles owned by Jones Waste Services; that Jones Waste Services owned the vehicles, paid the drivers and paid for fuel. He asked whether it would be possible to have more time in order to separate CCS Waste Ltd from Jones Waste Services Ltd. Around 15 to 20 people depended on CCS for employment and would lose their jobs if the operator licence were revoked or suspended. He asked to be given one further opportunity to get things right.

In oral evidence, Lori Wheeler confirmed her written statement. She agreed that she should have taken a more hands-on role in checking compliance, rather than waiting for the operator to reply to her emails. She accepted that she had made a mistake in taking on this licence without knowing much about the company: she would learn from this in the future.

Stacey Smith (the prospective transport manager) confirmed that she had not been running missing mileage reports. Driver infringement reports had only been printed out on 13 April 2022: up to then infringements had been dealt with verbally.

5. Further information

I adjourned the inquiry in order to take a written decision and to give the operator a chance to produce evidence of Chris Staples’ involvement and that he was paid.

A few days later I duly received from the operator copies of an email exchange between it and Mr Staples. On 18 August 2021 Chris Staples had emailed Shaun McCarron: “Hi mate, this new job I have isn’t giving me enough time to come round and do what I need to. I will need to take my name off the operating licence.” Mr McCarron had responded that there was a girl in the office (presumably Stacey Smith) whom he wanted to put through the CPC exam and asked what help she could be given. Mr Staples responded: “do you want me to hold off taking my name off the o- licence for a bit then until she has a crack at the exams? If so then I charge £500 per month for my name to be on there.”

Mr McCarron added (in his email to my clerk) that Mr Staples had been paid in cash. There was therefore no record that he had been paid.

This exchange seemed to me to be neither helpful to Mr McCarron’s case that Mr Staples had at least performed some tasks in return for money, or to Mr Staples’ case that he was an innocent bystander who had taken his name off the licence as soon as he realised that CCS was operating.

Findings

I make the following findings:

• the operator has failed to fulfil its undertakings (Section 26(1)(f) of the 1995 Act refers):

  • that drivers would report defects in writing. Drivers have clearly been devoting only token efforts to walkround checks and have failed to note and report obvious defects. It is dispiriting that this failure was also a feature of the revoked licence of Jones Waste Services Ltd;

  • that vehicles would be given safety inspections every six weeks (Section 26(1)(e) of the 1995 Act also refers), with records kept for 15 months. There are large gaps of far longer than six weeks between many safety inspections. Again, this was a shortcoming of the Jones Waste Services licence;

  • that the rules on drivers’ hours and tachographs would be observed. There is no evidence that vehicle units have been downloaded, and certainly no missing mileage reports (the whole purpose of downloading vehicle units) have ever been produced;

• the company has failed to establish sufficient clear blue water between its operations and those of the disqualified Jones Waste Services Ltd. The vehicles still belong to the latter, and it is Jones Waste Services which pays the drivers and for fuel. In essence, CCS has acted as a cloak under which Jones Waste Services Ltd has carried on operating, in defiance of its disqualification (Section 26(1)(h) of the 1995 Act refers).

• the operator lacks professional competence (Section 27(1)(a) of the 1995 Act refers). Right from the start of its licence it has in effect operated without an approved, functioning, transport manager. The first TM, Chris Staples, failed to exercise continuous and effective management to the extent that he did not realise that operations had commenced. When he did, he brazenly offered himself as a flag of convenience transport manager, a name on the licence to give the outward (but false) impression that a transport manager was in charge. Mr Staples was then replaced by Lori Wheeldon who was in effect prevented by the operator from taking up her responsibilities (although she should have tried harder to do so);

• the above finding is of particular concern because I made it quite clear in my decision on Jones Waste Services Ltd that if Shaun McCarron was involved with any future application he should make sure that he had engaged the services of a competent transport manager. Mr McCarron has in effect ignored this stipulation by the device of “employing” two successive transport managers who were given absolutely no responsibilities in the business and who were virtually never physically present. He clearly treated the post of transport manager as an inconvenience which I (and the law) had imposed upon the company and which was not to be taken seriously. The result was, unsurprisingly, a simple continuation of all the shortcomings of the previous, revoked, Jones Waste licence. Given this conduct, I have no hesitation in finding that CCS Waste Ltd, and its director Shaun McCarron, are not of the required good repute (Section 27(1)(a) also refers).

6. Balancing act

On the negative side of the balance are the findings above – the operator is non-compliant in several fundamental respects which present a serious danger to road safety, has never had professional competence, and is in effect a front for continued operations by Jones Waste Services Ltd. On the positive side are the fact that Stacey Smith has now gained her transport manager CPC. But this is not enough. It is clear from Mr McCarron’s history that he is in desperate need of an experienced, competent, transport manager strong enough to stand up to him. I am not convinced that a newly-qualified transport manager can meet these requirements (no disrespect to Ms Smith is intended).

I have made a finding that the company lacks both professional competence and good repute. Given Mr McCarron’s record as a director of both Jones Waste Services Ltd and of CCS Waste Ltd, I have no confidence that he will comply in future (the Priority Freight question). I conclude that the company therefore deserves to go out of business (the Bryan Haulage question). The licence must thus be revoked under Section 27(1)(a) of the 1995 Act.

7. Decisions

7.1 Revocation of the licence

The licence is revoked with effect from 0001 hours on 1 June 2022 pursuant to Sections 26(1)(e), (f) and (h) and 27(1)(a) of the 1995 Act. I will allow an extension of the period of grace to operate without a transport manager until revocation.

7.2 Disqualification

I have considered whether to disqualify, under Section 28 of the 1995 Act, the company and director Shaun McCarron from holding an operator licence in the future. Having performed the same balancing act as described above, I have decided to do so. In deciding upon the length of the disqualification, I have taken account of paragraph 103 of the senior traffic commissioner’s Statutory Guidance Document 10. This posits a starting point of between one and three years for a first public inquiry. Shaun McCarron has in fact attended four public inquiries, although this is the first for CCS Waste Ltd. The need for a transport manager to assist Mr McCarron has been a recurring feature: he is clearly not capable on his own of running a compliant operation. But he has defied this requirement. Taking these factors into account, I have determined on a disqualification period at the upper end of the one to three year scale given by the senior traffic commissioner as a starting point.

7.3 Transport managers

7.4 Lori Wheeldon

Lori Wheeldon certainly failed to exercise the required continuous and effective management of the transport aspects of this business. But in her favour is the fact that she tried to become involved but was ignored by the operator. She should of course have insisted that she be allowed to exercise her functions and responsibilities as transport manager. But also in her favour is the fact that she resigned as transport manager well in advance of my decision to call a public inquiry. Her good repute is damaged by this experience, but not lost.

7.5 Chris Staples

Mr Staples is a different matter. His email to the operator in which he offered to lend his name as transport manager in return for £500 per month is damning. His refusal to attend the inquiry has prevented him from putting any mitigating arguments. I have no hesitation in finding that his good repute is lost. I must also therefore disqualify him under paragraph 16 of Schedule 3 to the 1995 Act from being a transport manager on any licence, and do so for an indefinite period of time. Mr Staples has betrayed the trust which the public place in him, through the traffic commissioner, to ensure that an operator complies with rules relating to road and vehicle safety. He should not act as a transport manager again.

Nicholas Denton

Traffic Commissioner

3 May 2022