Brecon based contractor Seer Construction has been stripped of its goods vehicle licence after being found using farm tractor-trailers for transporting spoil from sites in South Wales.
The Traffic Commissioner for Wales revoked the company’s licence, granted to directors Gareth and Andrew Rees, after a public inquiry at Welshpool Law Courts, which also found that the operator was employing drivers without the correct C+E category licence for driving heavy goods vehicles.
Commenting on the case, the Welsh Traffic Commissioner, Nick Jones, said the use of tractors to avoid compliance with the rules “simply fills me with horror”.
An agricultural tractor and trailer branded with Seer Construction livery had been stopped through a routine DVSA vehicle stop on the A4067 in south west Powys. According to the Traffic Commissioner’s report, the driver had neither the correct licence nor any record of his driving or a tachograph on the vehicle. The public inquiry, convened as a result, found Seer Construction operating other similar vehicles across a wide area of South Wales and Herefordshire.
The firm’s commercial manager, Phil Rees, was interviewed in the case and found to be lacking appreciation of the insurance implications of operating with incorrect driver licences and unaware of the road safety implications of using farm tractors over long distances.
“I have no hesitation in making a finding that Phil Rees lacks the skills to be a person running a compliant operator’s licence,’ the commissioner’s report said. “Traffic commissioners regulate on the basis of road safety and fair competition. To allow this operator to operate agricultural tractors as sought would have significant adverse consequences in terms of road safety. I am also conscious that good legitimate operators of HGVs lose out because others seek to avoid what should be a level playing field.”
